> For AI agents: the documentation index is at https://docs.nimbusprivacy.xyz/llms.txt, and every page is available as Markdown at its URL with .md appended.

# Metadata and network privacy (/privacy/metadata)

A transaction's contents are protected by its proof and its encryption. What surrounds it is ordinary network traffic: like any online service, the requests your device makes carry its network address and the time they are sent.

## Syncing does not single you out

To find notes sent to you, your device downloads every encrypted note and tries to decrypt each one with your key. It never asks for "my notes", so the feed it downloads does not depend on which notes are yours. See [receiving and syncing](https://docs.nimbusprivacy.xyz/operations/receive-and-sync).

## What the protocol cannot do

The protocol has no control over network-level metadata. If that matters to you, a network privacy tool, such as a VPN or Tor, between your device and the services it uses is the remedy.

## Related

- [How privacy is lost](https://docs.nimbusprivacy.xyz/privacy/leaks): Metadata among the other leaks.
- [Receiving and syncing](https://docs.nimbusprivacy.xyz/operations/receive-and-sync): How download-all discovery works.


Last updated 18 October 2026