4 ms·

So it can't be used without a phone and phone number? Like most people I have those items - but only one of each. Good enough for standard chats with family a

by comex 11y ago

So it can't be used without a phone and phone number? Like most people I have those items - but only one of each. Good enough for standard chats with family and friends (which I currently use iMessage for), but on occasion I'd rather be pseudonymous, and it's precisely then that I need secure communications the most. Right now I have no idea what instant messaging software to trust, so I was hoping I could use Signal over Tor for this purpose, but I guess not.

matkam 11y ago
https://github.com/Bitmessage/PyBitmessage https://github.com/Bitmessage/PyBitmessage
- Natanael_L 11y ago
  Also: http://echelon.i2p.xyz/i2p.xyzbote/ http://echelon.i2p.xyz/i2p.xyzbote/
simoncion 11y ago
A few things: * You can use Signal with any phone number that can receive voice calls: http://support.whispersystems.org/hc/en-us/articles/213190677-How-can-I-get-Signal-working-with-my-Google-Voice-or-Project-Fi-number- http://support.whispersystems.org/hc/en-us/articles/21319067... * Signal's primary audience is non-technical users. The big goal of Signal is to thwart passive, dragnet surveillance of people's text and voice messaging. * AFAIK, Signal's use of GCM makes it more difficult for an adversary to perform traffic analysis to determine with whom a Signal user is speaking, but not impossible. * If you don't trust Open Whisper Systems to treat the phone number that you give them as sensitive and confidential, you really can't trust their messaging software, either. :)
- qznc 11y ago
  Imho, the big thing is that I have to give people my phone number to communicate via Signal. For contrast, Threema only requires you to share an ID like K48FEHZD.
- comex 11y ago
  I do trust OWS (although I'd like if they made the Signal iOS app build reproducible - there's an issue report about it). But I don't trust the people I'm conversing with, and they need my phone number to reach me on Signal. I guess I could use Google Voice or another service to register an anonymous phone number, but that's not a great UX, especially if I'm recommending the same procedure to the person I'm conversing with. (Oh, and the app doesn't seem to support multiple identities... I really should just look elsewhere, I suppose. It's just that I have a lot more faith in OWS's ability to deliver properly engineered systems than, well, anyone else's.)
  - ikeboy 11y ago
    Also GV requires an existing phone num to sign up.
- cm3 11y ago
  It seems like a well thought compromise, but it doesn't work for many users. Moxie must have plans to support certificate-based identification/authentication in order to remove the number requirement. There's no reason you need a SIM card to make voice calls, video calls and text chat.
  - simoncion 11y ago
    > There's no reason you need a SIM card to make voice calls, video calls and text chat. Agreed. It was even point number one in my list of commentary: > * You can use Signal with any phone number that can receive voice calls: http://support.whispersystems.org/hc/en-us/articles/213190677-How-can-I-get-Signal-working-with-my-Google-Voice-or-Project-Fi-number- http://support.whispersystems.org/hc/en-us/articles/21319067... [0] I heard a long time ago that the dependency on phone-number-as-username is something that they want to get rid of. However, I'm pretty sure they've been busy with the WhatsApp work and doing general work on the existing clients, so I don't know the timeframe for such a change. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11452508 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11452508

by comex 11y ago

matkam 11y ago

https://github.com/Bitmessage/PyBitmessage https://github.com/Bitmessage/PyBitmessage

Natanael_L 11y ago
Also: http://echelon.i2p.xyz/i2p.xyzbote/ http://echelon.i2p.xyz/i2p.xyzbote/

simoncion 11y ago

A few things: * You can use Signal with any phone number that can receive voice calls: http://support.whispersystems.org/hc/en-us/articles/213190677-How-can-I-get-Signal-working-with-my-Google-Voice-or-Project-Fi-number- http://support.whispersystems.org/hc/en-us/articles/21319067... * Signal's primary audience is non-technical users. The big goal of Signal is to thwart passive, dragnet surveillance of people's text and voice messaging. * AFAIK, Signal's use of GCM makes it more difficult for an adversary to perform traffic analysis to determine with whom a Signal user is speaking, but not impossible. * If you don't trust Open Whisper Systems to treat the phone number that you give them as sensitive and confidential, you really can't trust their messaging software, either. :)

qznc 11y ago
Imho, the big thing is that I have to give people my phone number to communicate via Signal. For contrast, Threema only requires you to share an ID like K48FEHZD.
comex 11y ago
I do trust OWS (although I'd like if they made the Signal iOS app build reproducible - there's an issue report about it). But I don't trust the people I'm conversing with, and they need my phone number to reach me on Signal. I guess I could use Google Voice or another service to register an anonymous phone number, but that's not a great UX, especially if I'm recommending the same procedure to the person I'm conversing with. (Oh, and the app doesn't seem to support multiple identities... I really should just look elsewhere, I suppose. It's just that I have a lot more faith in OWS's ability to deliver properly engineered systems than, well, anyone else's.)
- ikeboy 11y ago
  Also GV requires an existing phone num to sign up.
cm3 11y ago
It seems like a well thought compromise, but it doesn't work for many users. Moxie must have plans to support certificate-based identification/authentication in order to remove the number requirement. There's no reason you need a SIM card to make voice calls, video calls and text chat.
- simoncion 11y ago
  > There's no reason you need a SIM card to make voice calls, video calls and text chat. Agreed. It was even point number one in my list of commentary: > * You can use Signal with any phone number that can receive voice calls: http://support.whispersystems.org/hc/en-us/articles/213190677-How-can-I-get-Signal-working-with-my-Google-Voice-or-Project-Fi-number- http://support.whispersystems.org/hc/en-us/articles/21319067... [0] I heard a long time ago that the dependency on phone-number-as-username is something that they want to get rid of. However, I'm pretty sure they've been busy with the WhatsApp work and doing general work on the existing clients, so I don't know the timeframe for such a change. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11452508 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11452508