Most messengers bolt privacy on as a setting you have to find. Loki starts from the other end: every design decision assumes that your conversations are nobody else's business, and the app is built so that you do not have to be an expert to stay safe.
Loki uses a mesh-style network to pass messages between people, and its own authentication protocol to make sure you are talking to who you think you are. Group conversations can be ephemeral, disappearing when they have served their purpose, so there is less left behind to worry about.
