Great interview with @Mer__edith in @WIRED from @agreenberg...

Great interview with @Mer__edith in @WIRED from @agreenberg talking @signalapp, #surveillance, #privacy and #sustainability

"Signal is a nonprofit because a for-profit structure leads to a scenario where one of my board members goes to Davos, talks to some guy, comes back excitedly telling me we need an AI strategy for profit. Or another one of my board members comes in, gets really nervous that our revenue model, whatever it is, isn’t bringing in something that meets our goals and says, “Well, maybe we can start collecting metadata. Maybe we can reduce the focus on privacy, because of course our primary objective function, as a traditional for-profit, is revenue and growth.” And privacy in an economy powered by surveillance will necessarily hamper those."

https://www.wired.com/story/meredith-whittaker-signal/

Like 28 August at 15:16 | Open on aus.social

15 comments

Aral Balkan

@KathyReid Bloody hell it’s refreshing to actually have someone with integrity running something that requires integrity.

Thank you, @Mer__edith 💕

@WIRED@press.coop @agreenberg @signalapp

28 August at 16:35 | Open on mastodon.ar.al

David Penfold :verified:

@aral @KathyReid @Mer__edith @agreenberg @signalapp

She's great. I was wondering what the point was of Moxie stepping down, due to a total lack of imagination on my part. Her advocacy work is just so important.

28 August at 19:55 | Open on infosec.exchange

@KathyReid @Mer__edith @WIRED @agreenberg @signalapp

Precisely why #nonprofits should be the norm, and profit seekers the exception to the kind of organizations responsible for the state of the world & its inhabitants!

28 August at 17:22 | Open on c.im

Mikal with a k

@KathyReid @Mer__edith @WIRED @agreenberg @signalapp

So many functions of the digital public sphere are simply incompatible with commercial interests, particularly our personal communications. I donate monthly to Signal because I support any effort to claw our online life back from the capitalist cesspool.

28 August at 17:29 | Open on sfba.social

Khleedril

@KathyReid @Mer__edith @WIRED @agreenberg @signalapp Worst thing about for-profit is that they get deeper and deeper in the shit every year, until the stockholders decide there isn't enough year-on-year movement and vacate the enterprise.

28 August at 17:51 | Open on cyberplace.social

Bill Seitz

@KathyReid @Mer__edith @WIRED @agreenberg @signalapp I generally agree, though (esp big-bucket) donations are just another form of OPM.
http://webseitz.fluxent.com/wiki/OPM

28 August at 18:20 | Open on toolsforthought.social

Andy Mouse

@KathyReid @Mer__edith @WIRED @agreenberg @signalapp

Wow yes wooo, another good PR stunt from the activist honeypot, Signal.

I feel so safe now that they have promised, yet again, that they don't collect and pass on metadata to the US government (which they are bound by law to do, and bound to forever shut up about at the threat of immediate incarceration).

If Signal cared about the privacy of its end users, it would STOP COLLECTING THE DATA, instead of promising to 'never use it'. As if that is their decision to make.

For example, they could allow federation of the service, allow sign-ups without phone numbers, actually support Orbot/Tor/I2P users, and so on.

But naaah. It's great to hear of all this integrity though! Makes people feel good I suppose. As if the government and police needs profit to spy on you? 🤧

@KathyReid @Mer__edith @WIRED @agreenberg @signalapp

Wow yes wooo, another good PR stunt from the activist honeypot, Signal.

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28 August at 18:29 | Open on todon.eu

The One

@KathyReid @Mer__edith @WIRED @agreenberg @signalapp Despite all the respect I have for Signal currently, that quote does not make any sense.

Mozilla is nonprofit and they are buying a ads company and looking to integrate AI to browser and are constantly looking for new revenue sources.

Olvid is for profit and they protect their users fully while not even requiring a phone number.

28 August at 19:28 | Open on mstdn.jp

Patrizia

@BestMastodon @KathyReid @Mer__edith @WIRED @agreenberg @signalapp Mozilla has two parts: the non-profit foundation, and the for-profit corporation. It's the for-profit division that develops and maintains Firefox.

28 August at 20:40 | Open on hachyderm.io

Matt × 🇳🇴 🇺🇦

@BestMastodon I think it makes sense FOR SIGNAL (and for Olvid), but what doesn't make sense is what Mozilla are doing.

28 August at 20:51 | Open on oslo.town

Bernd Paysan R.I.P Natenom 🕯️

@KathyReid @Mer__edith @WIRED @agreenberg @signalapp Non-profit organizations have different attack angles, especially the status of being non-profit is easily questioned by the authorities. The Wau Holland Stiftung lost their status twice (was successful to appeal the decision, though), Mastodon also recently lost this status.

And AI: If being non-profit would be the cure, why the fuck is Mozilla developing AI?

28 August at 19:44 | Open on mastodon.net2o.de

schoolingdiana

@KathyReid @Mer__edith @WIRED @agreenberg @signalapp I got rid of it. When I got my new iPhone, it locked me out, insisting none of my credentials were valid & I’d never had an account. I had no access to my conversations or contacts there & like most people, I don’t keep a physical address book anymore. I contacted support & got incredibly rude responses.