Is anyone here aware of some alternatives to mentioned instant messaging applications ? Alot of people keep mentioning Signal , however since it is US based I am not going to entertain it as a possibility.
Is anyone here aware of some alternatives to mentioned instant messaging applications ? Alot of people keep mentioning Signal , however since it is US based I am not going to entertain it as a possibility.
Yeah no, that’s not how it works. The closed source Signal server by definition gets the meta data on your chats. It’s simply needed for it to do its job. When receiving the encrypted message contents the Signal server, at the moment of the IP connection, knows the identity of the sending party. It also must know the identity of the receiving party, else it would be very difficult to make sure the message reaches them.
That’s the user graph right there. Now Signal says they don’t log it, and I’m sure they don’t (here’s where you look up what a National Security Letter is btw). If I run my own Matrix server for me and my friends, I can prove that it doesn’t log.
WRONG
https://signal.org/blog/sealed-sender/
https://signal.org/blog/signal-profiles-beta/
I’m not aware of any equivalent implementation on Matrix.
Before making an uneducated comment you should at least read the source I shared and read the corresponding whitepaper explaining it. Your comment is a bit embarressing.
If you use a VPN (hiding your IP), Signal cannot build a social tree.
If you have any questions in particular feel free to ask.
I don’t need to ask questions, I do this for a living.
I doubt that based on the little technical understanding you show.
But if you do, explain to us how they are able to build a social tree when the users involved use a VPN? (Note that Sealed Sender is enabled by default). If there is any novel security insight that you discovered please share it!
All Signal users use VPN? Amazing. Is that a requirement?
No. But you can. With Matrix you can’t. The Matrix servers have a plethora of profile data and metadata in addition to public information like your IP. A VPN won’t help you.
No, but running my own server will. Something I cannot with Signal.
No one uses Signal via VPN.
You message only people on your server? Because if not and if you federate your instance, selfhosting doesn’t make a difference. Other instances will store your social graph. You’re much more private using Signal even if you don’t use a VPN. Since on Signal at least profiles are encrypted. And IPs change. You can only bind create a probabilistic social tree, vs on Matrix everything is bound to your account and your domain (which doesn’t change).
I don’t know why I’m even arguing with you. You clearly don’t understand how the underlying technology and software works. You should read up on that before coming back to this thread. I’m only repeating myself here.
If you’re allowed to fantasize about Signal users all using VPN then I can fantasize about people who need that level of security all using their own server, yes :)
Feel free to drop out of the discussion at any time.