Messaging apps comparison

colak · 2021-01-09 06:01:39

There is a comparison on the security and privacy of many messaging apps on www.securemessagingapps.com/. I’ve been using Signal for some years now and I’m glad that it is still the most secure one out there.

colak · 2021-01-18 15:37:30

I should just keep my mouth shut. Barely a week has passed and now it is revealed that Signal is a government op:

So how big a threat is Moxie [Signal’s developer] to the federal government?

This big: After selling his encryption start-up to Twitter in 2011, Moxie began partnering with America’s soft-power regime change apparatus — including the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (now called the U.S. Agency for Global Media) — on developing tech to fight Internet censorship abroad. That relationship led to his next venture: a suite of government-funded encrypted chat and voice mobile apps. Say hello to Signal.

Bloke · 2021-01-18 17:00:00

Iiiiiinteresting.

zero · 2021-01-18 17:49:28

Keybase might be worth checking. I don’t use it but recently joined Mastodon and noticed a few people there use it. Not on the comparison list.

phiw13 · 2021-01-18 23:46:52

In reply to colak #328222:

Yeah, that has been known for some time – and many governments security/spy services have access to data if wanted (without asking…). Thing is, if you only used it to for innocent talk with your friends, partners,… it is probably more “secure” from the spying eyes of personal data brokers, but but WhatsApp uses the same underlying tech… On the other hand, if you engage in some – even very mild – political activism or deal with sensitive data, you better think twice.

I remember Yiannis posting an interview with the IT wizard for some ecologist movement in the UK, he was spending lots of energy hosting websites and message boards outside of five eyes countries, but then went on recommending Signal. Never understood that one.

colak · 2021-01-19 05:59:30

phiw13 wrote #328225:

In reply to colak #328222:

I remember Yiannis posting an interview with the IT wizard for some ecologist movement in the UK, he was spending lots of energy hosting websites and message boards outside of five eyes countries, but then went on recommending Signal. Never understood that one.

Julian Oliver actually believed that Signal was true to its word then… and it was highly recommended by Snowden.

This is becoming too much of a game. An app comes out, slowly gets embraced by the privacy conscious community, spreads (i recently read that signal was becoming very big in china), only to be revealed that there are ethically compromising issues about it.

Until the time arrives when digital networks are 100% based on decentralised networks, there will be no hope for any kind of private communication.

colak · 2021-01-19 06:02:50

zero wrote #328224:

Keybase might be worth checking. I don’t use it but recently joined Mastodon and noticed a few people there use it. Not on the comparison list.

Looks interesting but:

We use a public blockchain to protect our users from misbehaving servers. Because of that, you can’t delete your publicly announced account information and account activity once you post it to your signature chain. You can, however, revoke it. Revoking, in Keybase, means retracting the original statement, indicating that it’s no longer true, or that the information has changed. (keybase.io/docs/privacypolicy)

zero · 2021-01-19 09:55:08

colak wrote #328226:

Until the time arrives when digital networks are 100% based on decentralised networks, there will be no hope for any kind of private communication.

colak · 2021-01-19 10:25:34

zero wrote #328228:

colak wrote #328226:

Until the time arrives when digital networks are 100% based on decentralised networks, there will be no hope for any kind of private communication.

The blockchain has its pitfalls:) Not allowing deletions is one of them. To make a more precise argument: Until the time comes that each one of us will be responsible to store, encrypt, transfer and/or delete our data, there will be no privacy.

I am yet to see anything unbreakable in the digital domain, starting from Turing’s Enigma machine onwards. In fact, if we think of the history of computing starting not with encryption, but with its deciphering, then we know that we are on the wrong path regarding privacy.

marios2 · 2021-02-01 11:18:09

I’m using Signal too. With ever increasing strength of recent encryption algorithms, this should be more than sufficient.

rgrds, marios

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#1 2021-01-09 06:01:39