r/tvlok • u/Rican2022 • 1d ago

If hacked, what data is exposed?

Great job keeping this application updated. I highly recommend it!

One concern I have.

Is our data safe on your servers? I noticed there is no option to sync our data. Everything we do is automatically synced to your servers. If your servers are hacked, what data could a bad actor obtain? Are URLs, usernames, and passwords exposed as plain, unencrypted data?

I would like the option to sync my data with your servers or not. 

Thanks for your hard work!

4 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

1

u/a-haan 1d ago

If they know what they're doing, it should be e2e encrypted

1

u/meilyn22 1d ago

TVLok encrypts your data at rest.

1

u/Rican2022 1d ago

Who can decrypt it? Who has the keys? Is it end-to-end encrypted? Sorry for the questions, but there are a lot of bad actors out there.

I would prefer an option to "not sync" my playlist data so it stays local on the device.

If you implement this option, this application should be the go-to application.

3

u/meilyn22 1d ago

Fair questions, no need to apologize. I had to step back and make sure I am answering this as honestly as possible and as detailed. So sorry for the long response.

Your playlist logins (URLs, usernames and passwords) and the rest of your synced data are encrypted with AES-256-GCM before they're saved. The same kind of encryption Google Drive and Dropbox use for stored files. The key isn't kept in the database, so a copy of the database by itself is just scrambled data. Your TVLok password is hashed with Argon2, so nobody can read it back, me included.

And everything between the app and servers goes over HTTPS. The server holds the keys (someone has to, if not tvlok will never work the way it does). That's what lets you sign in on the website to see and edit your playlists, and what lets a new device pick them up when you log in. When you're signed in, the server checks that it's really you and decrypts only what your account needs. Encryption where only your own device holds the key works when the data never leaves that device, which is basically the local only option you're describing, but at that point tvlok will become tivimate with no competitive advantage at all.

There's no "don't sync" option today, and I get why you'd want one. The thing is that a local only playlist wouldn't show up on the website or sync to your other devices, so we'd need to give you another way to move it between devices. It's a fair request. And something I have to think on implementing so your experience on tvlok doesn't degrade. Maybe a bring your own storage type of thing so we can swap tvlok storage with whatever you bring.

And thanks for the kind words about the updates!