Basically, a good way to never trust "it's okay, the data is anonymized" again is simply knowing what the "Hemisphere Program" is.
mcc (@mcc@mastodon.social)
I mean every device that connects to cell towers has an IMEI number. That can be used so that they can ban your device if necessary (eg someone stole it).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Equipment_Identity
every burner phone
Nope. You just discredited yourself.
As an aside, I'm very much convinced that Signal's primary objective is to gather phone numbers in order to facilitate the US government tracing social networks of people who are already of interest Their main focus isn't on what these people are discussing, they want to know who is talking to whom first and foremost. Signal's subpar user experience is a feature from this perspective. Due to its inconvenience for the average person, those with a strong need or desire to communicate sensitive information are more likely to utilize it.
What's with all the hate on Signal on here? I see probably one post a week trying to bash it because of some unproven conspiracy about it.
It's a non-profit whose goal is to provide encrypted private chat.
Signal's subpar user experience is a feature from this perspective.
Signal is literally just a chat service. The user experience is on par with any other service, except it's backed by a trust in the company to not sell out on the end user because it's a non-profit and isn't beholden to any shareholders.
I mean, I can see why it's brewed an anti crowd. Founded by Radio Free Asia, a USA propaganda arm, and was funded up until late last year.
Additionally they have been aggressively pushed by the NED, an organization created to effectively conduct CIA color revolution in the overt.
And finally, compared to the other major US developed and funded project Tor, it is very centralized. It requires a phone number to use. The open source code is very oftenly neglected with the repository being out of date compared to the code being pushed out in updates.
Not every non-profit is your friend. Especially not non-profits that recieve funding largely from an agressive state that fashions itself as world police.
Now, I do use it as the US government is not currently in my threat model and I'm in need of an accessible messaging platform that I can get friends, family, and coworkers onto. But if for instance, the next administration extends transphobic policies federally you best believe I'm keeping that information off Signal.
Signal throws users who need anonymity (refugees, victims of domestic abuse, etc) under the bus by refusing to let users create accounts without phone numbers.
There's no technical restriction. Signal just doesn't care about helping these people.
It’s a non-profit whose goal is to provide encrypted private chat.
It's a non-profit run by ex-CIA people that's hosted centrally in US, and being aggressively marketed as the only legitimate means of secure communication. Any time somebody points out the many problems associated with Signal, people swarm in to defend it as the one perfect secure chat platform that everybody should be using. Weird!
This dudes a Russian national with a cold war attitude. There is no convincing them as there views a set in stone. They are the opposite of people here in the US who think Russia is the devil itself.
With that being said, they are right in some respects. Companies really want to know who your friends are as it is very useful for advertising. Google messager and contacts keep a close eye on who you are talking to and when. The same goes for WhatsApp and any other messager that doesn't protect metadata. I think the metadata is actually more valuable than the raw text. It also is concerning that Mobile carriers have complete access to everything about you including location, communication logs, communication metadata, internet traffic, SS number, and so much more. I don't believe Signal to be harmful and it is definitely better than SMS and phone. Signal also has the advantage of being more reliable and popular than many apps. For instance, Signal calls are way better than Simplex Chat. Signal is also good for contacts you normally would use with regular phone service. You would use there phone number anyway so you aren't losing anything.
The TL;DR is that Signal does not protect metadata which can be a problem. However, if you are using Google or Apple messaging it doesn't really matter
Do you have evidence? And what do you think of the Molly fork?
Molly is just a bit of a hardened version. It's still signal besides that
I'm just pointing out the obvious reason why the US would be promoting the use of Signal so aggressively. Molly doesn't address the problem of having to go through a central server located in US to use Signal. The only way to address it would be to host your own server for yourself and your friends, but at that point you don't actually need Signal in the first palce.
While Signal does have problems it is still pretty solid. You are right about the metadata though.
Anyway Simplex Chat exists and if you are really concerned you can use Briar
Who would have thought that phones would have privacy issues.
Who would have thought.
It's impossible to "of think".