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Florencia (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zone to Privacy@lemmy.mlEnglish · 5 months ago

FBI Warns iPhone And Android Users—Stop Sending Texts

www.forbes.com

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FBI Warns iPhone And Android Users—Stop Sending Texts

www.forbes.com

Florencia (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zone to Privacy@lemmy.mlEnglish · 5 months ago
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US officials urge citizens to use encrypted messaging and calls wherever they can—here’s what you need to know.
  • coolusername@lemmy.ml
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    5 months ago

    signal and matrix are both CIA. i’d say it’s worse for your privacy than using your standard messengers since they know that’s where all the juicy stuff is.

    • extremeboredom@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Source?

      • LemoineFairclough@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        They might be trying to express that the Matrix protocol makes it easier for Israel to spy on someone using it. That idea came up somewhat often about 2 years ago, but I don’t know many relevant facts. It’s also common for people to say that the CIA and Israel cooperate, so that might be the connection to the CIA.

        The initial project was created inside Amdocs

        In early 2000, federal agencies conducted a counterintelligence investigation to determine if Amdocs was being used by Israel to eavesdrop on U.S. government communications. The investigation found no evidence of such activity.

        As for Signal, I am greatly annoyed that Signal requires your phone number for registration. Some people justify the centralization of Signal by saying that using a centralized network means that everyone using the network is using the same (good) security practices, and I’ve been told that the developers for Signal periodically express that they’re trying to remove that requirement, but I still try to avoid using Signal (or any networks that I can’t access without involving a phone number). The lack of progress on removing the requirement of your phone number from Signal (and the lack of information on where any centralized infrastructure is located) invites ideas about conspiring with the CIA.

        Despite any uncertainty or discomfort, I defer to https://www.privacyguides.org/en/real-time-communication/ and https://soatok.blog/2024/07/31/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-signal-competitor/ to determine what methods of communication might be suitable for me to use.

        • Manalith@midwest.social
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          5 months ago

          Not really a work around, but you could get a VOIP number from MySudo or Hushed or a similar service and use that to sign up for Signal. Might at least be more private if you go about it with like a prepaid card and temp email or something.

          • Sprocketfree@sh.itjust.works
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            5 months ago

            I thought signal switched to allow usernames a few months ago

            • youmaynotknow@lemmy.ml
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              5 months ago

              You can hide your phone number from other users, bit still need a phone number to sign up or to use your account.

          • LemoineFairclough@sh.itjust.works
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            4 months ago

            I wouldn’t recommend that, since it’s likely that anyone who could register with Signal using the same phone number could harm your ability to communicate with other people reliably, and I don’t have many reasons to maintain a VoIP telephone number: https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2022/11/10/signal-number-registration-update/

            If someone gets a new phone number from their carrier, they should not be prevented from registering with Signal indefinitely because the previous owner has reglock.

            The intention of reglock is to prevent hijacking of numbers you actually own, not to guarantee the number for yourself for life.

            While this change makes sense from the perspective of making it so you cannot “hold a number hostage” as long as you keep checking in, it is particularly important for people who’ve used disposable phone numbers to know this.

            I found that URL from https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2022/07/07/signal-configuration-and-hardening/ which I found from https://www.privacyguides.org/en/real-time-communication/

            There is some documentation that supports this idea, like https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007059792-Signal-PIN

            Enabling a registration lock triggers a 7-day inactivity timer if your number is registered on another device.

            Registration Lock expires after 7 days of inactivity.

            After 7 days of inactivity, a new PIN can be created. The old PIN and information associated with it are no longer available.

            I also recall that Mental Outlaw discussed this in the past, but I have failed to find where.

    • ComradeMiao@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      They aren’t though…?

    • sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today
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      5 months ago

      What evidence do you have to support that claim?

    • TwiddleTwaddle@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      5 months ago

      Lol apparently the juicy stuff is every meme my friends have shared with each other for the last several years

    • geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      Matrix is Israeli so it is likely Mossad.

      • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 months ago

        Per their website

        The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C is registered in the UK as Company #11648710

        Afaik UK != Israel. Like sure they may work together, but I’m pretty sure they’re different countries, meaning Matrix is British, so it would be MI6. Of course, being that they’re

        an open protocol for decentralised, secure communications,

        I doubt it’s MI6 as well, and if it is find the back door in it for us all by having the open source code audited, please and thank you.

        Btw this applies to “The Matrix Foundation,” they’re just the devs and run the largest instance, other instances (especially if you self host) are run by “not them” anyway.

        • geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml
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          5 months ago

          No Matrix was invented by an Israeli company.

          Matrixis an open-sourced protocol developed in 2014 by a team then working for Amdocs — an Israeli communication company. The standard is based on HTTP (to facilitate messages) and WebRTC (to facilitate voice calls). It works on a decentralized model with any compatible client.

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