5 ms·
Signal only has any userbase due to advocacy; compared to the secure-enough-for-most WhatsApp which has literally billions of users and is the default choice, e
by dingaling 6y ago
Signal only has any userbase due to advocacy; compared to the secure-enough-for-most WhatsApp which has literally billions of users and is the default choice, every user of Signal had to be convinced to install it.
So I think it's unfair to bash people who criticise the project. The 'drag' they apply to wider adoption is still miniscule.
Put it this way: why does Signal exist when WhatsApp is good enough? Wouldn't Mr Rosenfeld be better putting all that effort and ingenuity into a truly innovative new messenger?
- cwyers 6y agoWhatsApp... uses the Signal Protocol. I don't understand this line of thinking at all.
- spurgu 6y agoWell at least they used to. Who knows these days.
- cwyers 6y ago...anyone with a packet sniffer?
- robjan 6y agoWhatsApp encourages people to back up their messages to either Apple Cloud or Google Drive which breaks the E2E encryption. There is no way to tell whether the other party is doing this and just one person in a group chat can accidentally / on purpose back up the chat at any time. Signal allows chat backups but it's not the default option and the UX deliberately discourages this behaviour. They are also encrypted with a password which offers more security.
- AnthonyMouse 6y ago> why does Signal exist when WhatsApp is good enough? WhatsApp sends all your contacts to Facebook instead of the Signal Foundation, and unlike Signal, doesn't use SGX to keep Facebook from knowing what they are.
- 3np 6y agoYeah, I wonder where they’d be without Snowden’s endorsement.