The main difference between the register article and this one is the register is optimistic that Google will stop. While as the comments in this chat clearly indicate alternative views.

It is not written with AI

I’m sorry to hear you did not like the writing

You can’t join group chats of any decent size on Synapse. Put your money where your mouth is, how much you want to bet that you can’t setup synapse on a $5 hetzner and join the official Matrix.org group chat?

If you just use a VPN, doesn’t that solve it? Or you’re talking about hosting the server in your home?

That link you provided (which by the way is hosted on microsoft github in violation of his own principles) is very good! And repeats a lot of the same information from the simplified privacy site: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/signal-messenger-guide-to-avoid-privacy-mistakes/

I am NOT saying the average person should be concerned with CIA spying. What I’m saying is that one should promote decentralized internet infrastructures that empower the individual over corrupt institutions, even though this threat model likely does not apply to you. XMPP is just as easy to use use as Signal.

If you use Signal messenger, you have to trust the Signal foundation, which uses Amazon’s AWS for the cloud. So you’re trusting CIA military contractors. I am NOT saying that Signal is a CIA tool. What I’m saying is that you are trusting and obeying a centralized authority, as opposed to being able to run code on your own server. And this contributes to the centralization of the internet and a loss of freedom.

Would you agree that Signal does sealed sender to protect metadata? If there were flaws in this system, then should we not discuss it?

I agree that I applaud the move from SMS text to Signal. I am NOT saying the average person should be concerned with CIA spying. What I’m saying is that one should promote decentralized internet infrastructures that empower the individual over corrupt institutions, even though this threat model likely does not apply to you. XMPP is just as easy to use use as Signal.

If you use Signal messenger, you have to trust the Signal foundation, which uses Amazon’s AWS for the cloud. So you’re trusting CIA military contractors. I am NOT saying that Signal is a CIA tool. What I’m saying is that you are trusting and obeying a centralized authority, as opposed to being able to run code on your own server. And this contributes to the centralization of the internet and a loss of freedom.

I disagree. There are a variety of ways your data can be leaked. For example, the person you’re talking to can be using a Google stock phone or Microsoft windows which may collect data. If this was a random XMPP name, this would provide more protection than your real phone number. Furthermore, there are academic studies proving the metadata can be gotten. Please see this for more information: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/signal-messenger-guide-to-avoid-privacy-mistakes/

We need to separate the code from the people running the service. Which is not possible with signal.

I am NOT saying the average person should be concerned with CIA spying. What I’m saying is that one should promote decentralized internet infrastructures that empower the individual over corrupt institutions, even though this threat model likely does not apply to you. XMPP is just as easy to use use as Signal.

If you use Signal messenger, you have to trust the Signal foundation, which uses Amazon’s AWS for the cloud. So you’re trusting CIA military contractors. I am NOT saying that Signal is a CIA tool. What I’m saying is that you are trusting and obeying a centralized authority, as opposed to being able to run code on your own server. And this contributes to the centralization of the internet and a loss of freedom.

I agree with you that Signal is far better than WhatsApp and SMS. I applaud your adoption of freedom and thank you for your time. I am looking to educate people on open source decentralized alternatives that exist for philosophical purpose

Which statements are you disputing as untrue?