this post was submitted on 11 May 2025
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Privacy

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I remember a time when visiting a website that opens a javacript dialog box asking for your name so the message "hi " could be displayed was baulked at.

Why does signal want a phone number to register? Is there a better alternative?

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[–] onlinepersona@programming.dev 3 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

There is a lot of FUD here. It's just like anti-vaxxers claiming vaccines make you autistic or have microchips in them: they don't understand what they're talking about, have different threat models, and are paranoid.

Messages are private on signal and they cannot be connected to you through sealed sender. There have been multiple audits and even government requests for information which have returned only the phone number and last connection time.

Anti Commercial-AI license

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[–] guy@piefed.social 75 points 16 hours ago (11 children)
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[–] skynet@feddit.cl 12 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

as I see it, Signal tried to fit that privacy gap for a standard centralised messenger, if you think about it, that might have made it easier to non-tech-savvy people to adopt it (even if it was as a request from a contact), decentralisation is not remotely appealing to them

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[–] mikael@lemmy.ml 86 points 18 hours ago (4 children)

Because they're building a private, not anonymous, instant messenger. They've been very open about this.

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[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 18 points 14 hours ago (2 children)
[–] MajesticElevator@lemmy.zip 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I hope it gets multi device support and sync one day, in a way that just works

[–] cypherpunks@lemmy.ml 2 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

You can just make a group for each contact with all of your (and their) devices in it.

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[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 31 points 16 hours ago (24 children)

Bots. If it makes you feel better, you can disable other people finding you via phone number and just give them your username. All messages are private.

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[–] aprehendedmerlin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 81 points 19 hours ago (7 children)
[–] gjoel@programming.dev 39 points 18 hours ago

And discovery.

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[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 48 points 18 hours ago

Everything is a balancing act. Privacy, anonymity, and security aren't the same things. They're sometimes, and in some aspects always, difficult to achieve without compromising one of the other two.

When you add in the goal of quick, easy setup to make the service useful in the first place. Doesn't matter how good the service is at the trinity if nobody is willing to use it. Signal just errs on security first, privacy second, anonymity third.

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