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Signal outright lies in their privacy policy. It opens with "Signal is designed to never collect or store any sensitive information." but they collect and perma

Signal outright lies in their privacy policy. It opens with "Signal is designed to never collect or store any sensitive information." but they collect and permanently store sensitive information in the cloud (user's name, photo, number, and contacts) and in some cases they even store the contents of messages. They've steadfastly refused to update the policy even as they introduced those features deceiving users about their risks. Signal can't really be trusted at this point.

ryan_n 4mo ago
> in some cases they even store the contents of messages I hadn't heard this before. Doesn't that kind of defeat the entire purpose of using the app?
- autoexec 4mo ago
  It's an opt-in feature. https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/08/signal-introduces-free-and-paid-backup-plans-for-your-chats/ https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/08/signal-introduces-free-and... A service that advertises itself as privacy focused refusing to update their privacy policy while adding features like this seems like a pretty big dead canary.
  - throwaway349520 4mo ago
    Did we read the same article? You're complaining about an optional back-up service. No data is being "collected," you're giving it to them (in an encrypted form) to store on your behalf. How else would a backup service work? If you don't want to use the cloud version, there's a feature to store backups locally on-device. Signal blog: https://signal.org/blog/introducing-secure-backups/ https://signal.org/blog/introducing-secure-backups/ HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45170515 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45170515
    - trumpdong 4mo ago
      It's hardly optional, they keep nagging you to turn it on until one day you accidentally do. Protected by only a 4-digit PIN by the way.
      - aiisjustanif 4mo ago
        Never seen it pop up for me
      - autoexec 4mo ago
        Even if you don't set up a pin it still collects your name, photo, phone number, and your contacts and stores that information in the cloud forever.
    - autoexec 4mo ago
      > You're complaining about an optional back-up service. No data is being "collected," Every app offering cloud-based backup is in fact designed to "collect and store" sensitive data. That at least is opt in. The app also collects your name, photo, phone number and worst of all a list of your contacts and permanently keeps that in the cloud and there is zero way to opt out of that data collection. No matter what excuses you want to make for them there is no getting around the fact that the device does collect and store sensitive data. Just like it can't be denied that they've added several new features none of which is reflected in their privacy policy because they've frozen it in time. This is an app which is advertised to whistleblowers, activists, and others whose lives/freedom could depend on how well they understand the risks involved yet Signal outright lies to them about those same risks.

ryan_n 4mo ago

> in some cases they even store the contents of messages I hadn't heard this before. Doesn't that kind of defeat the entire purpose of using the app?

autoexec 4mo ago
It's an opt-in feature. https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/08/signal-introduces-free-and-paid-backup-plans-for-your-chats/ https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/08/signal-introduces-free-and... A service that advertises itself as privacy focused refusing to update their privacy policy while adding features like this seems like a pretty big dead canary.
- throwaway349520 4mo ago
  Did we read the same article? You're complaining about an optional back-up service. No data is being "collected," you're giving it to them (in an encrypted form) to store on your behalf. How else would a backup service work? If you don't want to use the cloud version, there's a feature to store backups locally on-device. Signal blog: https://signal.org/blog/introducing-secure-backups/ https://signal.org/blog/introducing-secure-backups/ HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45170515 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45170515
  - trumpdong 4mo ago
    It's hardly optional, they keep nagging you to turn it on until one day you accidentally do. Protected by only a 4-digit PIN by the way.
    - aiisjustanif 4mo ago
      Never seen it pop up for me
    - autoexec 4mo ago
      Even if you don't set up a pin it still collects your name, photo, phone number, and your contacts and stores that information in the cloud forever.
  - autoexec 4mo ago
    > You're complaining about an optional back-up service. No data is being "collected," Every app offering cloud-based backup is in fact designed to "collect and store" sensitive data. That at least is opt in. The app also collects your name, photo, phone number and worst of all a list of your contacts and permanently keeps that in the cloud and there is zero way to opt out of that data collection. No matter what excuses you want to make for them there is no getting around the fact that the device does collect and store sensitive data. Just like it can't be denied that they've added several new features none of which is reflected in their privacy policy because they've frozen it in time. This is an app which is advertised to whistleblowers, activists, and others whose lives/freedom could depend on how well they understand the risks involved yet Signal outright lies to them about those same risks.