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OT: My recent "creepy" moment, with Signal. Last year, I helped someone out, including dealing with their manipulative friend. Whose name and number ended up

OT: My recent "creepy" moment, with Signal. Last year, I helped someone out, including dealing with their manipulative friend. Whose name and number ended up in my Android contacts db. The other week, Signal pops a message: X has joined Signal. Be the first to send [them] a message. Um...

smichel17 9y ago
You can disable these notifications in your settings.
- traviscj 9y ago
  The issue is not the notifications but the access that enabled them (which was apparently granted accidentally?)
  - palunon 9y ago
    Since you can send normal sms (to any contact on your phone) directly from Signal interface, I guess it should be obvious it has access to your contacts...
  - pasbesoin 9y ago
    I no longer remember. Is that an explicit, prompted choice during installation? If so, I probably wasn't overly worried. But now, seeing this... "unpleasant" person's name pop up, was a bit of a jolt. Despite some prodding, none of my other contacts have switched over -- from Messenger or Whatsapp or whatever -- to Signal. So, I'm not... "used to" all its behavior, yet. Yeah, I'm out here in the everyday boonies... ;-)
nyolfen 9y ago
you're complaining because someone in your contacts ended up as a suggested friend in an app, after you granted the app access to your contacts?
- pasbesoin 9y ago
  Yeah, I don't know that I have the right to complain. Nonetheless, it was a "creepy" moment, for me.
posguy 9y ago
Block them on Signal, its easy peasy! Their messages/calls will go to /dev/null while double checkmarking even!
lozf 9y ago
Just because you have them in your contacts, doesn't mean they have you in theirs. Also, IIRC Signal uses a hash of the phone number to display if one of your contacts is also using Signal. I understand how that notification might feel creepy at first, but if you understand what actually happens it de-escalates from "creepy" to merely "convenient".
pasbesoin 9y ago
I might choose to use Signal. I might prefer not to have that choice broadcast to all my contacts (well, all those who use Signal). Yes, discoverability... I'd rather have that explicitly opt-in, not a default behavior. I view my use of Signal as information I'd prefer not to share with some -- even if they are in my contact db and even if they use Signal. P.S. Yeah, I see some discrepancy between this and the way Signal is designed and the goal to minimize metadata. Ok. Still, it was a creepy moment for me, seeing this person's name pop up in a Signal alert.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

smichel17 9y ago

You can disable these notifications in your settings.

traviscj 9y ago
The issue is not the notifications but the access that enabled them (which was apparently granted accidentally?)
- palunon 9y ago
  Since you can send normal sms (to any contact on your phone) directly from Signal interface, I guess it should be obvious it has access to your contacts...
- pasbesoin 9y ago
  I no longer remember. Is that an explicit, prompted choice during installation? If so, I probably wasn't overly worried. But now, seeing this... "unpleasant" person's name pop up, was a bit of a jolt. Despite some prodding, none of my other contacts have switched over -- from Messenger or Whatsapp or whatever -- to Signal. So, I'm not... "used to" all its behavior, yet. Yeah, I'm out here in the everyday boonies... ;-)

nyolfen 9y ago

you're complaining because someone in your contacts ended up as a suggested friend in an app, after you granted the app access to your contacts?

pasbesoin 9y ago
Yeah, I don't know that I have the right to complain. Nonetheless, it was a "creepy" moment, for me.

posguy 9y ago

Block them on Signal, its easy peasy! Their messages/calls will go to /dev/null while double checkmarking even!

lozf 9y ago

Just because you have them in your contacts, doesn't mean they have you in theirs. Also, IIRC Signal uses a hash of the phone number to display if one of your contacts is also using Signal. I understand how that notification might feel creepy at first, but if you understand what actually happens it de-escalates from "creepy" to merely "convenient".

pasbesoin 9y ago

I might choose to use Signal. I might prefer not to have that choice broadcast to all my contacts (well, all those who use Signal). Yes, discoverability... I'd rather have that explicitly opt-in, not a default behavior. I view my use of Signal as information I'd prefer not to share with some -- even if they are in my contact db and even if they use Signal. P.S. Yeah, I see some discrepancy between this and the way Signal is designed and the goal to minimize metadata. Ok. Still, it was a creepy moment for me, seeing this person's name pop up in a Signal alert.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]