5 ms·

what is going on in the US gov IT? They took an Israeli app, that is a modified version of signal. the modification BREAKS the one thing signal is excellent at

what is going on in the US gov IT? They took an Israeli app, that is a modified version of signal. the modification BREAKS the one thing signal is excellent at (keeping your messages encrypted so that only the desired endpoints can read them), then distributed it within the US Gov. This is insanity! US's enemy's couldn't manufacture a better result themselves!

bathtub365 1y ago
The messages do need to be recorded in a way that can be read by people other than the intended recipients due to federal record keeping laws. I’m curious if this particular app has been in use for a long time within the government and only recently became a target after it was accidentally revealed in that cabinet meeting photo.
namdnay 1y ago
It's not just the US gov - TeleMessage/Smarsh sell to everyone: banks, corporations etc. Their USP is that your employees get to "keep using their apps" but still comply with all the boring data retention stuff - instead of using a dedicated corporate chat app What's interesting is that they also sell a hacked version of WhatsApp, and the Meta legal team haven't steamrolled them yet
GuinansEyebrows 1y ago
> US's enemy's couldn't manufacture a better result themselves! in the game of nationalist geopolitics, it's only a matter of time before a current strategic ally becomes an enemy. it's the natural order of nationalism at global scale.
smashah 1y ago
[flagged]
immibis 1y ago
They have a mandate to record conversations, so they modify the app to record conversations. I don't see the problem? This is much less illegal than the other explanation - that they were using Signal to avoid having conversations recorded. If you have a problem, you should have a problem with the mandate to record all conversations, not with installing a modified app to do it. If the person wasn't told this was happening, you should have a problem with that too, although who would accept a phone from the government and then not think it's tapped?

bathtub365 1y ago

The messages do need to be recorded in a way that can be read by people other than the intended recipients due to federal record keeping laws. I’m curious if this particular app has been in use for a long time within the government and only recently became a target after it was accidentally revealed in that cabinet meeting photo.

namdnay 1y ago

It's not just the US gov - TeleMessage/Smarsh sell to everyone: banks, corporations etc. Their USP is that your employees get to "keep using their apps" but still comply with all the boring data retention stuff - instead of using a dedicated corporate chat app What's interesting is that they also sell a hacked version of WhatsApp, and the Meta legal team haven't steamrolled them yet

GuinansEyebrows 1y ago

> US's enemy's couldn't manufacture a better result themselves! in the game of nationalist geopolitics, it's only a matter of time before a current strategic ally becomes an enemy. it's the natural order of nationalism at global scale.

smashah 1y ago

[flagged]

immibis 1y ago

They have a mandate to record conversations, so they modify the app to record conversations. I don't see the problem? This is much less illegal than the other explanation - that they were using Signal to avoid having conversations recorded. If you have a problem, you should have a problem with the mandate to record all conversations, not with installing a modified app to do it. If the person wasn't told this was happening, you should have a problem with that too, although who would accept a phone from the government and then not think it's tapped?