The Signal dev is hellbent on not distributing Signal outside of the Google Play Store. What options exist when you don't want to use any Google service?
The guy is also opposed to rooting your phone for security reasons. He argues that breaking out of the cradle of Google is insecure. What if I want to have a device that could POSSIBLY be compromised, rather than having one that is DEFINITELY compromised on purchase?
Other urls found in this thread:
signal.org
github.com
github.com
github.com
en.wikipedia.org
privacytools.io
droid-break.info
droid-break.info
prism-break.org
prism-break.org
github.com
twitter.com
>gplaycli github.com
>YalpStore github.com
And a million other tools.
Also, consider compiling yourself. Signal only takes a few minutes on a decent machine.
Nice quads
>Requires phone number
It's just as bad as Telegram and WA.
I would kindly request to anyone reading this and who has high privacy expectations from Signal to to reconsider.
You're looking for anonymity. Signal was never meant to anonymize clients.
/thread
Wire and Riot are wonderful.
that's exactly what I was looking for. all I found when I searched for it was github threads discussing how it wasn't gonna happen.
what would you recommend instead?
You might be correct, I want to excuse myself for mixing them up.
But still believe that a phone number would not have to be required to use the service.
Mind explaining the special features it offers over Telegram?
I would say, Riot or XMPP, I personally still find XMPP the most interesting because of it's distributed network nature. (But prepared for bad clients at first, just need to look around what clients are available and which one suits you the best.)
But like mentioned, Signal is not a service intended for anonymity, but could prove to be interesting if you are okay with the phone number login wall.
wow great thread you fucking faggot OP
Checked.
/thread
Forgot to mention, since we are talking Android here.
On FDroid, there is a really nicely developed XMPP client with OTR and OMEMO encryprion included. Called Conversations.
Make sure to get it off FDroid, the Google Play entry encourages you to use it by charging 2.79$ for the app.
>people on Sup Forums unironically trying to use signal for privacy
>what would you recommend instead?
Here's a writeup of the various services:
>discord, skype
No encryption and no promises of privacy. Discord promises to collect everything you say and type in their T&Cs; I don't remember whether skype does the same.
>whatsapp, signal, telegram
Provide E2E encryption, but are not to be trusted. Their models all allow a backdoor to be realistically implemented; and since they're based in the US, that means they can be ordered at any time to implement said backdoor and provide access to third parties (i.e. the government) while under gag (assuming they don't already do it willingly). Whatsapp is arguably the best of these because it makes no false promises about privacy, can be used with all your friends, and encryption is enabled by default.
Now the good ones:
>wire
Centralised service, but possibly the best existing centralised service. Solid encryption, privacy and T&Cs.
>Matrix
A great protocol, but lacks good clients. Riot (the official one by the matrix devs) has encryption off by default, and a kinda dodgy privacy policy.
>XMPP or IRC
Both are decentralised but not distributed, meaning there's still _a_ server you need to trust. Both are inherently plaintext but have extensions for encryption. Arguably less normie-friendly because of this, and because of the need to get a good server and set up your clients.
>tox
Conceptually the single best solution I've found yet. Strong encryption, fully p2p/distributed, fully FLOSS and not primarily owned/developed by any corporation, supports group chats and VOIP. Unfortunately, it lacks multidevice, which can be a bit of a dealbreaker.
Hello from 5 years ago
github.com
Another VERY IMPORTANT thing to consider: it doesn't matter what you install/use, it only matters what your friends and contacts use, since that's what you're going to be talking to them through. You can install Tox, make your own privacy-centric matrix client, set up XMPP and IRC servers with full encryption and anonymisation implemented, etc., but if everyone you talk to only uses facebook messenger and nothing else then facebook will still read everything you say.
So from this point of view, you need something that's easy to install AND use, and preferably some amount of publicity so your friends ideally remember hearing about it - or at least don't decide it's too dodgy and they'd rather stick to what they know. (Yes, normies can be illogical like that.)
So returning to the example above, someone else who only uses Wire and got all his friends to install the (pretty polished) wire app will do MUCH better than the autist with the xmpp setup and tox and shit, but who still talks using facebook because none of his friends want to use anything his autistic stuff.
So you don't have to choose the perfect service - you have to choose the service that the people you talk to will be willing to use.
Now the good ones:
>>wire
>Centralised service, but possibly the best existing centralised service. Solid encryption, privacy and T&Cs.
Wire is storing profile information in not client-encrypted side compared to Signal, which storing profile information in client encrypted side.
What's more Wire is storing chat metadata and contact list, which Signal doesn't.
Wait fuck. I need to review my rankings then
Checked
I based this on en.wikipedia.org
this could be outdated, so be careful.
Thanks for the summary, user.
some more information here
- privacytools.io
(on Wire - Caution: The company keeps a list of all the users you contact until you delete your account.)
and here:
- droid-break.info
- droid-break.info
- prism-break.org
- prism-break.org
Wire is where it matters. Signal? B.T.F.O.
it's shit like this that makes this all feel a bit hopeless. what seemed great, or half-decent, had some bad quirk.
it just feels so strange. it should be a simple concept. exhange public key. write text in chat window. automatically encrypt and send. friend decrypts it. he writes something back.
>is where it matters. Signal? B.T.F.O.
Signal is where it matters. Wire? B.T.F.O.
Wire
- Profile information = Stored; not client-side encrypted
- Chat metadata = Stored
- Contact lists = Stored
- Screenshot protection = No
- Proxy = No
- TOR = No
- The company keeps a list of all the users you contact until you delete your account
Signal
- Profile information = Stored; client-side encrypted
- Chat metadata = Not stored
- Contact lists = Not stored
- Screenshot protection = Yes
- Proxy = Yes
- TOR = Yes
1. Signal is crap.
2. He is right about security and not rooting.
Use yalp store or see Fucking retard
There is no need to root phone, when APK is available here signal.org
Tox is literally perfect
But nobody fucking works on it or uses it. They started on multi-devices and then it died. There's a bunch of different clients and they're all shit. There's zero promotion or advertisement anywhere, not even by any avid users, nor on any influential tech websites/journals. Fucking why
You can literally buy sim cards by the dozen, the fuck is your point?