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But no one is making you use signal, and the app is free, and this feature is opt-in. Still not seeing much of a conflict of interest. This guy owns signal, he
by seibelj 6y ago
But no one is making you use signal, and the app is free, and this feature is opt-in. Still not seeing much of a conflict of interest. This guy owns signal, he can do what he wants, or so I thought a free market worked (?)
- austhrow743 6y agoAnd what? Users aren’t allowed to discuss and make decisions on what products they use in a free market?
- seibelj 6y agoThat's fine - my commentary is that this is not a scandal, though many on HN feel scandalized.
- wahern 6y agoThe guy doesn't own Signal. Signal is funded and released by Signal Technology Foundation, non-profit; either directly or indirectly through it's subsidiary[1], Signal Messenger, LLC. (Both registered in Delaware.) That means there's much more likely a legally cognizable conflict of interest if Signal is being used as a vehicle for self-enrichment. And flouting rules against such self-dealing provides greater than normal reason to distrust the security of Signal. But that's all predicated on the existence of self-dealing. [1] The Wikipedia page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Foundation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Foundation, claims Signal Messenger, LLC is a subsidiary. There's no source provided, AFAICT, nor can I find one, for that claim. But Android says Signal is published by "Signal Foundation", and Moxie seems to be the head of both, so for our purposes--trustworthiness--the distinction is mostly irrelevant.