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0 points7v3x3n3sem9vv5y ago0 comments

Signal is "owned" by a non-profit. They can't be sold to a for profit, they learned their lessons from WhatsApp.

Lastly, Signal doesn't collect/store any of your data on their infrastructure other than a few hashes required for operation. WhatsApp/facebook on the other hand collect, and likely keep, forever, at much metadata about you as possible. The only way to pay for this free storage is to stay more data so they can target you for advertising dollars.

This doesn't guarantee that Signal will live forever, but at the very least they've learned from previous mistakes and have taken actions to address them.

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10 comments · 4 top-level

webmobdev5y ago· 3 in thread

Where is Signal's owner non-profit located? Different countries have different laws regarding the status of a corporations profit or non-profit label.

ffpip5y ago

US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Foundation

webmobdev5y ago

That's what I was afraid of - in the US, non-profits can be converted to for-profit. So here, Signals non-profit status for its owner shouldn't be relevant to us.

https://www.upcounsel.com/converting-non-profit-to-for-profi...

jorvi5y ago

Damn. I really like Signal and it's still a cut above most, but even they must realize the US is a pretty poor place for such an organization compared to, say, Germany or Switzerland?

thayne5y ago· 2 in thread

Signal is also open source, so if they do somehow become for-profit, it can always be forked.

est315y ago

You would only be able to fork the client, not the network. Signal doesn't want forks or third party rebuilds e.g. from F-Droid to connect to their main network.

Most people use these apps for the network. The app without the network is useless, but any fork would initially be in this situation.

thayne5y ago

> You would only be able to fork the client

The signal server is also open source. The absence of federation does mean you would also need to get all of your contacts to move to a different service as well, but it is better than a proprietary system. I do wish Signal was more open to federation and/or alternative clients though.

madhadron5y ago· 1 in thread

Signal also writes the encryption that WhatsApp and Duo use.

mroche5y ago

I was confused at first: Google Duo, not Cisco Duo. I'd completely forgotten about Google Duo.

mortenjorck5y ago

I know the circumstances are different, but what almost happened to .org is going to haunt me for some time.

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