Gregory's Server
Finally, if #Signal insists on getting deeper and deeper into social-network territory, this might expose it to additional regulatory burden.
There are laws and regulations that specifically focus on social networks, but not necessarily on IM systems.
By crossing that line (as blurry as it is), Signal exposes itself to more *legal* risk and potential legal trouble, at a time where plenty of legal challenges already exist for encrypted communication tools (consider #ChatControl).
We *need* safe, encrypted, privacy-respecting IM.
For all its flaws (its centralized nature, using phone numbers for identifiers), #Signal has emerged as a kind of standard, reasonably trusted IM in the journalist-activist space.
With all the time and effort put into moving people over to it by activists and #InfoSec professionals like myself over the years, risking that to farm a bit more MAU feels like… betrayal.
I did a "drunken rant" talk about this at #MCH2022
https://media.ccc.de/v/mch2022-196-signal-you-were-the-chosen-one-
We *need* safe, encrypted, privacy-respecting IM.
For all its flaws (its centralized nature, using phone numbers for identifiers), #Signal has emerged as a kind of standard, reasonably trusted IM in the journalist-activist space.
With all the time and effort put into moving people over to it by activists and #InfoSec professionals like myself over the years, risking that to farm a bit more MAU feels like… betrayal.