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0 pointspcb-rework1y ago0 comments

You're a fool if you believe handing over metadata like your personal phone number so you can be tracked is an improvement. That's not email and not a replacement for GPG, something that actually works properly. Session is a superior app for text replacement. I think you need to find new blogs that don't offer crap advice.

0 comments

cpach1y ago

What kind of threat model do you operate under where Signal Technology Foundation knowing (one of) your phone numbers is a large risk?

gertop1y ago

The fact that signal knows my phone number doesn't bother me.

The fact that anyone who knows my phone number can know that I use signal does bother me.

palata1y ago

Settings > Privacy > Phone number has two options:

- "Who can see my number". If you choose "Nobody", then your phone number will not be visible to anyone unless they have it saved in their phone's contacts.

- "Who can find me by number". If you choose "Nobody", then nobody will be able to see you're on Signal unless you message them or have an existing chat with them.

cpach1y ago

May I ask why you’re bothered by this fact?

1 more reply

roastedpeacock1y ago

Session started as a fork of the Signal client/server to use identifiers that are not phone numbers (perfectly sensible) but having deviated from the known primitives of the Signal protocol and omitting PFS gives me pause.

akimbostrawman1y ago

Session was the go to couple years ago but now SimpleX chat is imo superior with proper PFS even quantum resistent and better UX.

roastedpeacock1y ago

And how is the situation with desktop clients? Last I saw the situation was not exactly great.

1 more reply

palata1y ago

And now Signal allows you to use identifiers that are not phone numbers (except for your registration to the server).

midenginedcoupe1y ago

They resisted this change for years, but eventually gave in and fixed it. You no longer need to hand out your phone number.

https://signal.org/blog/phone-number-privacy-usernames/

palata1y ago

> They resisted this change for years, but eventually gave in and fixed it.

I believe that one big reason for that is that it was not trivial to get with the quality they wanted. I respect the fact that they "resisted" instead of just adding some bad implementation for the sake of it.

cpach1y ago

Nitpick: AFAIK, revealing a phone number is required for registration. But it’s no longer required in order to communicate with other Signal users.

palata1y ago

There is no reason to tell people they are fools. Especially when you believe that email with PGP "actually works properly" w.r.t. metadata.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

cpach1y ago

What kind of threat model do you operate under where Signal Technology Foundation knowing (one of) your phone numbers is a large risk?

gertop1y ago

The fact that signal knows my phone number doesn't bother me.

The fact that anyone who knows my phone number can know that I use signal does bother me.

palata1y ago

Settings > Privacy > Phone number has two options:

- "Who can see my number". If you choose "Nobody", then your phone number will not be visible to anyone unless they have it saved in their phone's contacts.

- "Who can find me by number". If you choose "Nobody", then nobody will be able to see you're on Signal unless you message them or have an existing chat with them.

cpach1y ago

May I ask why you’re bothered by this fact?

1 more reply

roastedpeacock1y ago

akimbostrawman1y ago

Session was the go to couple years ago but now SimpleX chat is imo superior with proper PFS even quantum resistent and better UX.

roastedpeacock1y ago

And how is the situation with desktop clients? Last I saw the situation was not exactly great.

1 more reply

palata1y ago

And now Signal allows you to use identifiers that are not phone numbers (except for your registration to the server).

midenginedcoupe1y ago

They resisted this change for years, but eventually gave in and fixed it. You no longer need to hand out your phone number.

https://signal.org/blog/phone-number-privacy-usernames/

palata1y ago

> They resisted this change for years, but eventually gave in and fixed it.

cpach1y ago

Nitpick: AFAIK, revealing a phone number is required for registration. But it’s no longer required in order to communicate with other Signal users.

palata1y ago

There is no reason to tell people they are fools. Especially when you believe that email with PGP "actually works properly" w.r.t. metadata.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse