i’ve just seen a comment in a post, in this very community, saying people trust signal because of missinformation (from what i could undertand).

if this is true, then i have a few questions:

-what menssaging app should i use for secure communications? i need an app that balances simplicity and security.

-how to explain it to my friends who use signal because i recomended?

-what this means for other apps in general?

  • einkorn@feddit.org
    817·
    2 days ago

    The usual conspiracy theory is that Signal is funded by the CIA and therefore a honey pot.

    what menssaging app should i use for secure communications? i need an app that balances simplicity and security.

    Signal. I can do almost everything that i.e. WhatsApp or Telegram offer, is as easy to use as those and the client is verifiably encrypted and secure.

    how to explain it to my friends who use signal because i recomended?

    Explain what exactly? Why they should use it?

    • It offers the same functionality as other messengers while being verifiably secure and encrypted.
    • Signal collects only three datapoints of users
      1. Date of registration
      2. Date of last connection to the server
      3. Your encrypted backups if you enable cloud backups
    • Compare that to messengers such as WhatsApp and Telegram where it is not clear which information they collect, whether they store it in an encrypted format or not or who they share it with.
      • In the case of WhatsApp it is at least the US government as required by the Cloud Act.
      • In case of Telegram the data is unencrypted by default and cooperation with various governments has been reported.

    what this means for other apps in general?

    Please clarify the question.

    • triplenadir@lemmygrad.ml
      44·
      1 day ago

      the part of the “conspiracy theory” about CIA funding is completely true: signal proudly say they get funding from the OTF, which at the time signal started was a subsidiary of Radio Free Asia, which started out as an open CIA project (before being relaunched as clearly still a CIA project but without the official acknowledgement).

      I’m 50:50 on whether signal is a literal honeypot, but even if not it seems pretty likely that the US government wouldn’t have funded an app that could be used by people breaking its laws - let alone people actively organizing against it (foreign spies, domestic revolutionaries and insurrectionists) unless they were getting something pretty big in return.

      • silasmariner@programming.dev
        2·
        13 hours ago

        In return they get an actually secure messing app they can use without having to support it themselves. Which is pretty big.

    • m532@lemmy.ml
      410·
      1 day ago

      The epstein files have proven that conspiracy theories are true. Of course powerful gangsters conspire. We already knew that since forever.

      • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        5·
        16 hours ago

        The epstein files have proven that conspiracy theories are true.

        So the Earth really is flat and run by lizard people?

        Be careful with your wording. Yes, some conspiracy theories are true to some degree. But there’s also ones that are complete bunk.

      • einkorn@feddit.org
        81·
        1 day ago

        Ok, because the thing, that everybody knew turned out to be true, every conspiracy theory is valid now?

        I guess you should go visit the Nazis in New Swabia and discuss this revelation with them.