@mmn @deadsuperhero ActivityPub allows for PGP encryption, so it would be possible to do real privacy although where and in what form private keys are stored would be the bigger question. It could be done something like ProtonMail where the user supplies a password which generates the private key on the client side.

I'm still inclined to think though that the best tools for hombre-to-hombre private communications are the ones we already have, with ratchets and so on.