this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
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Privacy

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Are there any privacy friendly Discord clients or frontends?

I have the impression it's against their TOS to use an alternative client, so is it worth it to even use one?

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[–] Madbrad200@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You won't get banned for using a 3rd-party client or client mod, unless you abuse the API in doing so (which you're not likely to do accidentally).

Anyway, the short answer is: yes.

I think all of the major client mods on PC have anti-tracking plugins. I use Vencord which comes with a "NoTrack" plugin by default (it disables Discord telemetry, metrics, and crash reporting). It also has a "ClearURLs" plugin that removes tracking elements from URLs. BetterDiscord also has similar plugins.

You can couple these with OpenAsar (it's compatible with all client mods - I use it alongside Vencord). Along with speeding up your Discord, it also comes with a "DoNotTrack" plugin that disables discord telemetry.


On Android, you can use Vendetta which, again, has a "NoTrack" Plugin you can add that disables discord telemetry and tracking.

[–] Vexz@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

You won’t get banned for using a 3rd-party client or client mod

That is not true. A few people have been banned because they used BetterDiscord. It's rare but it happened before. That's why I stopped using it.

[–] Cistello@reddthat.com 2 points 1 year ago

Sidebar on my Browser and Aliucord I don't use Discord frequently however and you need to be aware of what you type there

[–] CausticFlames@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I just use betterdiscord with the do not track extension

[–] Platform27@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Same. I also use Invisible Typing.

[–] monerobull@monero.town 1 points 1 year ago

Not really your question but Revolt is basically a 1to1 copy of discord in terms of UI.

[–] deluxeparrot@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What exactly would you gain privacy wise from a 3rd party client? All communication goes through their servers anyway. I believe even voice calls go through their server and aren't p2p.

[–] sprl@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Telemetry and other user identification but yeah the data runs through the server.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 year ago

Matrix? (Not discord but it can be bridged)

[–] Voxel@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago
[–] leraje@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Madbrad200@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Worth noting that Aliucord relies on a very outdated version of Discord. Vendetta is worth using if you want the newer features to work well

[–] wildbus8979@sh.itjust.works -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] sprl@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There are existing communities which I don't intend to leave and will not move.

[–] wildbus8979@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

I get that, but one of your requirement was privacy. As others have explained that is diametrically opposed to the core architecture of Discord, so if you want that requirement then that is your answer.

[–] pimeys@lemmy.nauk.io -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You can use Discord through Matrix. You just need a server with the corresponding bridge installed.

For example Beeper.

[–] sprl@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh, very interesting. I didn't know this was a possibility. What would be the advantage of doing this?

[–] pimeys@lemmy.nauk.io 1 points 1 year ago

You can use one client for Signal, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Matrix, IRC, Facebook, Twitter, iMessage etc.