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Once again - Signal[0] as an alternative. It's fully Open-Source (including the backend) and their crypto is public and independently verified[1][2][3]... [0]

• nalekberov 6y ago
  Signal is not good enough either in the long run, because of its centralization. End-to-end encryption is sold as a bulletproof privacy solution, it might solve the most important element of privacy (having your messages not readable by others), in the end they have metadata stored in their end, your social graph, when you are online/offline etc. (there are others things i am sure) So giving your trust to another party just because they look “promising” does not work. Centralization is the source of all Evil.
  • 7v3x3n3sem9vv 6y ago
    Look into how Signal operates, they really are different than the competition and continue to innovate engineering new ways to ensure they don't store any metadata on their servers. They've been subpoenaed before and the only information they could provide was the date a phone number registered and the last day it contacted their servers. That's it! I do agree that moving to another centralized service is not the optimal option, but seeing the amount of effort they put into ensuring all new features ensure your privacy instills a lot of confidence in their service. Long-term I'm personally rooting for either Element, Briar, or Session, but also realize they are not quite ready for mainstream and even when they are, they may be out of reach for grandma. in the short term I've migrated most of my family friends, including my grandma, to Signal and have had zero complaints. It works more or less like WhatsApp but pretty much guarantees your privacy, which I appreciate.
    • nrvn 6y ago
      Why do you think Element is not ready for grandma migration?
    • nalekberov 6y ago
      The problem in your view is you are not seeing what's coming. > I do agree that moving to another centralized service is not the optimal option, but seeing the amount of effort they put into ensuring all new features ensure your privacy instills a lot of confidence in their service. Two sentences are contradicting with each other. You can not trust someone just because they "promise", I am not undervaluing their work, all I am saying is moving from party to party doesn't solve the problem in whole. Signal's ridiculous marketing tricks like using quotes from Snowden, Schneier et al makes me laugh. If I am given two options to choose between moving to another centralized service like Signal and staying with WhatsApp, I am okay with the latter option. Not because WhatsApp is better, but honestly as an end user I don't see any value. WhatsApp requires my phone number, so does Signal. WhatsApp is centralized, so is Signal. WhatsApp doesn't allow another client to operate, so does Signal. So what's the difference, Signal is open-source and non-profit? Nah, I don't buy this nonsense.