3 ms·
Using phone numbers as identifiers for encrypted messages is the core feature of Signal. It was marketed from day one as a drop in SMS replacement. Initially it
by goatsi 6y ago
Using phone numbers as identifiers for encrypted messages is the core feature of Signal. It was marketed from day one as a drop in SMS replacement. Initially it even used SMS as the transport for encrypted messages. It was literally called "TextSecure". This is why I have always found the attacks on it using phone numbers to be amusing.
- Mediterraneo10 6y agoThe problem is that in the years since Signal was launched like that, more and more countries around the world are requiring you to show ID to buy a SIM card, and then a copy of that ID is made and sent on to the authorities. So, the state has a one-to-one correlation between phone numbers and individuals, and so it can see who is using Signal.
- goatsi 6y agoSo? Signal is just a messaging client. The goal of Signal is to get it widely used by as many people as possible, so that it's a totally normal thing to have on your phone. If a country has gotten to the point that you would be targeted just for having an app installed, just changing to usernames wouldn't be enough, as users could be easily detected through network logging (thanks AWS and Google for killing domain fronting [0]). Your usecase sounds like it needs an app like Briar. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16970199 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16970199