Egregoros

@feld @mttaggart This looks like something from the 1990s. We were supposed to be able to read articles for a nickel or whatever, without signing up or revealing information.

Given that Chaum's patent is expired, why is that still hard? It's basic RSA with an additional random factor.

The problem is they will still push ads and spy even if we do pay. Does paying for a movie let you avoid commercials? No, they have increased it.

Pirating a movie avoids commercials.

@Bernard @cjd There seems to be a metaphysical law that nobody gets to rule the world. Every time someone was close, something strange happened to wreck it.

And don't forget what happened - according to both sides - when Julian tried to rebuild the Temple.

@Bernard Anyone who was under the illusion of having privacy on any Meta platform needs to wise up.

There have been stories that Meta tech support people can call up WhatsApp messages too.

@Bernard Signal is non-federated but the client code is open and there are forks of it.

Some of the forks are backdoored, like the one the Trumpy warmongers were using.

With Signal I am more worried about the phone OS than the Signal app.

Want privacy? Don't use a phone. Use a PC with open source.

@Bernard If the Signal client code is doing what it's supposed to be doing, and doesn't have any hidden backdoors, then I shouldn't have to care what the server is doing.

Someday I may try Graphene OS. I do have some Pixel phones. For the most part I don't do much on a phone though.

@Bernard > Many much better solutions exist.

Are you a Matrix fan?

Signal is the best thing you can get a non-privacy fanatic to use. People don't like the phone number based nature of it but that does make it easy.

And it has a history of surviving legal action. It supports disappearing messages that really disappear. You are not going to have the last ten years of your life served up in evidence against you because you wore the wrong shirt to a protest.

In the real world, that matters.