How it works: I don’t know about this service in particular, but usually the shared contains the encryption key so like this: example.com/files/file_id/encryption_key or something similar

But if the key is in the URL, that's provided by the server, where's the utility of the encryption since the server knows it and so does everyone that has the URL?

[–] flux@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So the trick is to use the #fragment part of the URL, that is not sent to the server.

Of course the JS one downloads from the server could easily upload it to it, so you still need to trust the JS.

[–] peregus@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

But the JS code could be checked on the webpage, correct? If so, the page could be trysted (if vetted).

[–] flux@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

In theory, yes. But if you follow the link and that leads to downloading the JS and running it, you're already too late inspecting it.

And even if you review it once (and it wasn't too large or obfuscated via minification), the next time you load a page, the JS can be different. I guess there could be a web browser extension for pinning the code?

The only practial alternative I know of is to have a local client you can review once (and after updates).