this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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Privacy
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Do we still like signal? I remember reading something about why you should stop using signal but this seems contrary to that
Many people also fail to make a proper distinction between private and anonymous, which is why some people get mad at the phone number thing.
Ah, yes, I'm not giving an instant messenger application my phone number, it doesn't need it, especially if I'm not even using it on a phone.
That's private information that I only give out to close friends and family members.
Ok that makes sense
The phone number thing is a major problem but Signal just has the momentum imo. Ultimately, they're gonna need to fix it or we're all going to have to stop using it.
Private =/= anonymous
Signal is amazing
Anonymity is good but that's not the biggest problem with Signal's reliance on phone numbers. Phone numbers are just not secure and not designed to be authentication credentials. Phone services are vulnerable to a large number of exploits and that's never going to change. Signal has a number of mitigations to try preventing those exploits from hitting people but that's a bandage at best. Reliance on phone numbers is a gigantic weak point in Signal's privacy and security.
For every thing on this world, there will be people disliking this thing and being very vocal about it.
EFF still recommend Signal (and others) for people fitting various risk profiles: https://ssd.eff.org/