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A company called Germ is aiming to bring end-to-end encrypted messages to Bluesky’s AT Protocol, a feature that the social network doesn’t currently have. 

The tool’s security is yet to be independently audited, but the company says it plans to seek that out soon. Mark Xue, a former privacy engineer at Apple and CTO of Germ, told 404 Media “We’ve been working for about two years on Germ, and on this integration for 6 months or so.”

Essentially, Germ is its own app which is integrating with the AT Protocol that powers Bluesky, according to an announcement post the company shared with 404 Media before it went live on Monday. It describes itself as the “first secure messaging service on the ATProtocol!”

To start an encrypted chat, users will click the magic link in a Bluesky user’s bio, the announcement says. A person’s Bluesky or AT Protocol handle acts as what German calls an “identity card.” This directs people to the Germ app, which in turn asks for the users’ Bluesky handle and credentials. The messaging itself then happens in the Germ app, not Bluesky’s own, but it still serves as a way to connect people who are trying to send encrypted messages to Bluesky users.

Rianna Pfefferkorn, a policy researcher at Stanford and who told 404 Media she was an advisor to Germ, said “I believe they’ve got a great bench of expertise, between their CTO’s background at Apple and the outside advisors they’ve brought on who have very deep expertise in cryptography.” She said Tessa Brown, Germ’s CEO, reached out “because I had long been arguing, in my work at Stanford, that strong encryption is not incompatible with effective trust & safety.”

That has been a constant tension in private messaging apps and social networks. If a platform introduces end-to-end encrypted messaging in order to protect users’ privacy, does that potentially enable other bad behavior, because the platform will be unable to see it? 

“By design, end-to-end encryption means Germ can’t analyze the content of people’s messages, just like Signal, iMessage, and WhatsApp. We will have abuse mitigation like those established systems do,” Xue said. He added “A key dimension of abuse in DM’s is unsolicited or unwanted contact. With our integration, users will be able to use their Bluesky handle as their messaging identity without opening up unsolicited DM’s. They can grant permission to contact by exchanging cards directly (by QR code or link), while still proving and using the ongoing binding between their private Germ Card and their public Bluesky profile.”

“We set out to build interoperable E2EE [end-to-end encrypted] DM’s, because we believe that people should be able to make independent choices of software and still be able to talk with each other. Diversity of interoperable apps and infrastructure is also a core value of Bluesky’s AT Protocol (motivated by Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and subsequent user exodus). There’s a community working group to develop interoperable BSky E2EE DM’s, and we think our implementation would be a great starting point,” he added.

In May 2024, Bluesky itself said encrypted DMs were coming “down the line.”

For some Citadel Securities leaders, fun in the sun means getting philosophical.

A recent newsletter from Ken Griffin’s trading firm, which is behind nearly a quarter of all US stock trades, included six executives’ beach reads and listens. Their recommendations appeal to a range of potential beachgoers, including everything from diet advice to a 1927 classic to a YouTube series that explains egg freezing.

Here are six Citadel Securities executives’ summer media recommendations.

The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future

Matt Culek, the chief operating officer, recommended the book by Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey to anyone who thinks that AI will transform business and daily life — so, basically, everyone. He called it a “compelling account of OpenAI’s founding, Altman’s leadership, and the fierce competition among leading AI firms.”

The book, published in May, tracks OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s journey from his childhood in St. Louis, his time at startups, his temporary ouster at OpenAI, and his current leadership. It’s based on more than 200 interviews and has 3.97 stars on Goodreads.

The Cell: A Visual Tour of the Building Block of Life

Chief Technology Officer Josh Woods said that the 2015 book is “as informative as it is visually stunning.” Written by the writer and lecturer Jack Challoner, “The Cell” chronicles scientific breakthroughs around life’s basic unit, tracking the evolutionary journey from single- to multi-celled organisms. On Goodreads, the book has 4.37 stars.

Decisive Moments in History: Twelve Historical Miniatures

Shyam Rajan, the global head of fixed income, suggested Austrian writer Stefan Zweig’s 1927 classic, which was originally published in German. According to Rajan, the book “thoughtfully captures the catalysts that changed the trajectory of history ranging from the fall of Constantinople to the discovery of the Pacific Ocean.”

Other vignettes include an affair between a 74-year-old and a 19-year-old, and the story of a man who legally owned a good portion of California. The book has a 4.24 rating on Goodreads.

How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease

It seems like the summer of health for Alex DiLeonardo, the company’s chief people officer, who recommended the “eye opening” book about how to prevent chronic illness through nutrition.

“Our colleagues take the same optimizing lens to their life that we take to the market,” DiLeonardo wrote in his suggestion. Published in 2015 by American physician Michael Greger , “How Not to Die” examines the top 15 causes of prominent diseases. It has 4.42 stars on Goodreads and includes a checklist of the 12 foods Greger thinks we should eat daily.

Wind of Change: Did the CIA write a power ballad that ended the Cold War?

Dane Skillrud, COO of systematic equities & FICC, recommended a podcast instead of a book. The eight-part miniseries from 2020 is hosted by New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe and follows his investigation into whether the CIA wrote the song “Wind of Change” by Scorpion, a German rock band. According to rumors, the CIA wrote the 1990s hit to impact the fall of the USSR.

“It’s a useful reminder of the importance and power of new ideas, music, and language,” Skillrud wrote in his recommendation. The series has 4.8 stars on Spotify.

Huge if True: An optimistic show about using science and technology to make the future better

For the COO of technology and low latency, Jeff Maurone, summer media means YouTube. He recommended video journalist Cleo Abram’s series on the future of technology, saying that “she is a tremendous storyteller who helps me navigate how technology and AI are changing our world.”

Recent episodes focus on everything from DNA editing to getting sucked into a black hole to egg freezing to interviews with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.