95
Signal in 2026? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 6 months ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
120 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Is it still viable to use Signal for privacy in 2026? It's centralized, and has had many suspicious occurrences in the past.(Unopen source server code, careless whisper exploit which is still active as far as I know, and the whole mobile coin situation.)

Thoughts?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 1 point 6 months ago (5 children)

I think the thing with Signal is "Oh it's secure. Very secure. You don't get better security in an app you can just install and use. You can get better security but you gotta like, learn shit about security." And that makes people use Signal without learning shit about security. So they make mistakes on their end. Those mistakes range in stupidity from "handed a cop my unlocked phone" to "didn't know Apple and Google peek at all your push notifications."

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    I mean, I think the best rule of thumb is that unless you're a tech wizard, you don't have online privacy. At all.

    I don't believe anything is super safe and secure online. Not even Signal.

    I always treat my online activity as if I am being surveilled because I probably am. Luckily I'm a boring bitch, so I don't really have anything to hide, but I do appreciate that I can stay in touch with friends and family without having to linger on Facebook anymore. So there's that.

    The only time I feel annoyed about people talking about Signal is when they talk about it as if it's this super sketchy app that shares your data when literally every single friggin platform online does that and the same skeptical people use them all the time without question.

    That part annoys me because people keep acting like we aren't already completely naked and our information owned by companies who do god knows what with it. If people are aware that everything they do is being surveilled and used for whatever purpose, then I don't really mind, but it doesn't seem like that is the case for many people. I genuinely still cannot believe how many people jumped on the DNA test trend, for example. Like holy shit, just give them your firstborn too, while you're at it. XD but hey, we all make stupid mistakes now and again. I remember my first smartphone having a thumbprint lock and I just did that throughout my early to mid 20s without thinking about it. At least they only have one of my thumbprints but yeah. It's so insidious, the way the tech world has lured us into giving up our information willingly.

    The worst thing anyone can do when they are online is to believe they have any privacy. That is hubris.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago (3 children)

    are you me? because i look at it the same way, plus the fact that i always expect to be hopelessly outclassed by cia/nsa/mimossad/etc. so i always presume that everything i do online or on my phone is being broadcast to them in real time.

    my only hope is that i'm also so boring and inconsequential to them that they don't give a rat's ass at whatever i do. lol

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Yeah, exactly. I just always found it to be silly and arrogant to assume that I could ever outsmart agencies, organisations and companies that not only specializes in getting my data, but also built the tech and the systems I am navigating.

    And I mean, I have enjoyed true crime since the Forensic Files were still explaining to normal citizens what DNA is and how that technology is applied in crime cases. I have casually followed the development of forensic sciences for at least two decades and let me tell you, there ain't no way you can hide online. The ones who can either have the right connections, are unbelievably skilled and cautious with tech or they don't use technology at all and live in an off grid cabin somewhere, where nobody uses smartphones.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago (1 child)

    I never thought I would see a Unabomber lifestyle endorsement on Lemmy. Lol

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago

    I dunno if I would call it an endorsement. It was more so to show how impossible it is to have privacy online, lol. You'd have to go to extremes to avoid having any information about you end up online. And honestly, even if you went off grid in a cabin somewhere, there still is no guarantee that you will succeed in keeping yourself offline entirely. Kaczynski is probably also a bad example as you can find pretty much everything there is to know about him online. A selfinflicted fate.

    Anyways, the point is that privacy doesn't really exist if you own a phone, tablet or computer.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent