4 ms·

Signal exposes the user's phone number, better alternative is to use burner phones or Telegram.

by kome 6y ago

Evidlo 6y ago
Or an open standard like Matrix
- RMPR 6y ago
  I was wondering why nobody seemed to mention Matrix here
- 0x49d1 6y ago
  First time hearing about Matrix standard. But in case the clients are maintained by some individuals - why should we trust them that there are no backdoors in their compiled binaries? Seems like a nice project! But probably it will take it's small niche, probably for now it is not wide spreaded, haven't heard any noise about the standard.
  - INTPenis 6y ago
    The signal server has 10 maintainers out of which 5 are signal employees. Matrix is 100% open source, has a larger community maintaining it and is federated. If you're worried about backdoors then you should have more eyes on the code.
soziawa 6y ago
Telegram doesn't have encryption for groups though.
- 0x49d1 6y ago
  Actually they do: https://telegram.org/faq#q-so-how-do-you-encrypt-data https://telegram.org/faq#q-so-how-do-you-encrypt-data , but since group chats are using Telegram's servers the encryption is not client-to-client. Here is the actual specification of how does their srever-client encryption work: https://core.telegram.org/mtproto https://core.telegram.org/mtproto
  - billme 6y ago
    >> “ since group chats are using Telegram's servers the encryption is not client-to-client” That is, it is not end-to-end-encrypted (E2EE) — which is the whole point of apps like this.
josefresco 6y ago
Or use a virtual number.
- rem7 6y ago
  Can you elaborate on virtual number? Don’t I have to pay for a virtual number that is essentially linked to my credit card... with my name on it. GV also knows who I am.
  - josefresco 6y ago
    It depends of course on your specific situation, but Google Voice offers free virtual phone numbers. No credit card, and you can set it up without personally identifying information. You can easily find others by searching. You can also use pre-paid credit cards if you must pay.

Signal exposes the user's phone number, better alternative is to use burner phones or Telegram.

by kome 6y ago

Signal exposes the user's phone number, better alternative is to use burner phones or Telegram.

Evidlo 6y ago

Or an open standard like Matrix

RMPR 6y ago
I was wondering why nobody seemed to mention Matrix here
0x49d1 6y ago
First time hearing about Matrix standard. But in case the clients are maintained by some individuals - why should we trust them that there are no backdoors in their compiled binaries? Seems like a nice project! But probably it will take it's small niche, probably for now it is not wide spreaded, haven't heard any noise about the standard.
- INTPenis 6y ago
  The signal server has 10 maintainers out of which 5 are signal employees. Matrix is 100% open source, has a larger community maintaining it and is federated. If you're worried about backdoors then you should have more eyes on the code.

soziawa 6y ago

Telegram doesn't have encryption for groups though.

0x49d1 6y ago
Actually they do: https://telegram.org/faq#q-so-how-do-you-encrypt-data https://telegram.org/faq#q-so-how-do-you-encrypt-data , but since group chats are using Telegram's servers the encryption is not client-to-client. Here is the actual specification of how does their srever-client encryption work: https://core.telegram.org/mtproto https://core.telegram.org/mtproto
- billme 6y ago
  >> “ since group chats are using Telegram's servers the encryption is not client-to-client” That is, it is not end-to-end-encrypted (E2EE) — which is the whole point of apps like this.

josefresco 6y ago

Or use a virtual number.

rem7 6y ago
Can you elaborate on virtual number? Don’t I have to pay for a virtual number that is essentially linked to my credit card... with my name on it. GV also knows who I am.
- josefresco 6y ago
  It depends of course on your specific situation, but Google Voice offers free virtual phone numbers. No credit card, and you can set it up without personally identifying information. You can easily find others by searching. You can also use pre-paid credit cards if you must pay.