Signal Blog: Keep your phone number private with Signal usernames
Keep your phone number private with Signal usernames
Finally, we can have usernames in Signal instead of giving our phone number to everybody.
Too little too late, I'm afraid.
I would love to use Signal more, but I have it for only 1 friend. No one else I know uses it. And the fact that they don't support SMS is I imagine a large contributing factor.
(Yes, I know SMS is inherently insecure & unprivate, but having that support is a good way to get users' foots in the door, and also what good is a totally secure platform if no one uses it?)
I still luckily have a nice group of friends using Signal but I agree that dropping SMS support was a mistake. There was a good issue explaining why dropping SMS support was bad on their GitHub: https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/12560
In hindsight it's sad how very right he was. Now when I think "I want to send Alice a message", I just go to the app I know will work, instead of trying to remember if Alice still uses Signal too.
I genuinely appreciate that there are some people who have the benefit of a group of contacts who are willing to use it. I'm happy for you.
Also, that's an interesting thread. Thanks for sharing it. :)
It's never too late. "Back then", when I started using Signal (called TextSecure), only one other single friend used it. Nowadays, almost all my personal contacts use it. Every additional Signal user adds a contact in someone other's address book as a potential Signal contact. It just takes time. Good luck!
Okay, then, let me reiterate, for now it seems to be too little too late.
And thank you.
Apparently still requires giving Signal your phone number, so not exactly keeping it private.
There's anonymity and privacy. This keeps you private from other users, and they already keep you private from themselves other than the initial sign up. What this service isn't, and never has been, is anonymous. They don't want that and there are big usability issues with an extended anonymous user base. Decide for yourself what you need
Anonymity is part of privacy.
Specifically, anonymity is confidentiality of identity. Confidentiality is part of privacy, which is a broad concept. So when a tool or mechanism works against anonymity, it works against privacy. It may not work against a privacy aspect that you care about, but it’s privacy nonetheless.
Step in the right direction, which is appreciated...
But: https://fosstodon.org/@link2xt/111965597727225353
Server can look up account identifier (username) and also phone number by username.
As usual, people are never satisfied. Never stop complaining.
Still not in F-Droid
This is a big complaint for me. I know that there is the official standalone APK, but if I am running a de-Googled phone, I want to be able to use Signal and have it update on a regular basis.
The app does remind you of updates.
Many years late, and still requires having your number. Good first step though, we'll see once a phone number is not required.
Sign-up still requires a phone number.. -.-"
Checkout Matrix/Element
or Session,there you can actually enjoy privacy by signing-up without a phone number/email:
https://getsession.org/Edit: Due to Session's company residing in Australia,
which appareantly has bad privacy laws,
i don't feel comfortable with recommending it anymore
Ah yes, Signal, known anti-privacy company
Anonymity is part of privacy; not a dichotomy.
Been using matrix as my primary communication method (including bridges to other networks for things like Slack and WhatsApp) for over 3 years now, doesn't feel slow?
Is Session actually secure though? I know they're based in Australia, and as an Aussie myself, holy fuck would I not trust this country for even a fraction of a picosecond with anything private or sensitive. We have some of the world's most draconian and far-reaching digital privacy and surveillance laws, and I'm not ready to accept that Session hasn't been secretly compromised by the AFP, given the law against revealing government backdoors.
Happy to be proven wrong, but I always err on the side of extreme caution when it comes to Australia. Digitally, we're closer to the CCP than any of our fellow western nations.
Wasn't aware of that, would love to hear about it if someome could shine some more light onto the matter :)
If that's the case, I have to stop using/recommending Session
Thanks for the warning -- that was my first question. It is my top reason (among many other reasons) for avoiding Signal.
All 3 of the sites you linked are Cloudflare sites (thus antithetical to privacy). Yes, I know you can use some of that tech without touching CF, but when they run CF websites it reveals hypocrisy & not understanding the goals of their audience.
If that's a concern you could also always use Threema, which has been built from the ground up to use anonymous random IDs and optionally lets you link a phone number or e-mail address to that ID. The company has also won important court cases against having to store metadata preemptively and responding to blanket requests by law enforcement.
I never heard about Threema before,
quickly glanced at it's Github repo,
but I think I prefer Matrix/Element over it.
Threema seems to largely rely om GMS (Google Messaging Service),
meaning that most messages will go through Google's servers,
albeit end-to-end encrypted for now,
I would not be suprised if Google would participate in "Harvest now, Decrypt later".