Has anybody here used "Signal"?

[robkelk]

Apparently, it's an end-to-end-encrypted messaging app. Does anyone here have any experience with it, or has anybody heard anything - bad or good - about it? https://signal.org/

[Ebony]

Regularly, since a few months after the last Presidential election. It's pretty easy to use, and the only thing I find irritating is that it keeps asking you to invite users to use it, even when the messages come from automated services, like a doctor's office notification.

[Labster]

Yeah, I use Signal, with the few people I know who are on it.  I should really make an effort to convert people.

So, for point of reference, at my work's conference last year, all of the tech team members were using WhatsApp to communicate -- with the exception of me (developer team security lead) and Felipe (sysadmin team security lead) on Signal.  You see, we're both paranoid people.  WhatsApp uses the same underlying E2E encryption scheme developed by Signal, but it's owned by Facebook.  And while Facebook can't read your messages, they do keep track of who your contact list is, and how often you talk to them.  It comes down to trust, and I trust Moxie Marlinspike a hell of a lot more than I do Mark Zuckerberg.

I haven't had any annoyance with asking for invitations; maybe I'm on an old version, maybe I don't have any friends.  The real downside is the use of a real phone number as a requirement for identity, but it's probably the best thing short of a national ID number.

[robkelk]

Hmmmmm... No native-Blackberry app. Which means desktop-only for me until my next phone upgrade. Do I still need a phone number there?

(Yes, I know - nobody does native-Blackberry apps any more, ever since the company decided to drop its signature product line. Still waiting for something else with a physical keyboard - and with Blackberry's patent there, that's a long wait. <sigh>)

[Star Ranger4]

but it's probably the best thing short of a national ID number.

Which in this country is NOT supposed to be your phone number, but a certain other number assigned by the Social Security Administration?

[robkelk]

Maybe in your country, but my country places strict rules on how one can use the Social Insurance Number. (So strict, in fact, that even the federal government is not allowed to use it as an employee ID number.)

Besides, if one is serious about wanting privacy, one can pay for two phone numbers. Some cellphones are (were?) even designed to take two SIMMs.

[Star Ranger4]

*nods* its enough to make one consider moving north except that I really think Snow is something you go and look at, then go back to the beach to warm up from (LOL!!!)

[Norgarth]

*nods*  its enough to make one consider moving north except that I really think Snow is something you go and look at, then go back to the beach to warm up from (LOL!!!)

Err, did you post this reply to the correct thread?

[Star Ranger4]

I think so... Rob's the one who posts links to recipes from the Canadian broadcast services every week, which lead to certain assumptions.

[robkelk]

Hey, the food's good up here. And, until recently, we didn't have the populism problems that so many other countries have (and I think people are starting to see the problems with electing a populist government in Ontario).

While our freedom of expression isn't quite as open as it is in the USA, at least we don't have anybody saying end-to-end encryption (like Signal) is a bad thing/