6 ms·

The Signal App and the Danger of Privacy at All Costs

7 points by wakana 4y ago

josephcsible 4y ago
tl;dr: "Having any truly private means of communication is bad since terrorists, pedophiles, and the January 6th people benefit from that. Don't worry about backdoored encryption since the government is mostly good and probably won't spy on you anyway."
salil999 4y ago
https://archive.ph/2ABYX https://archive.ph/2ABYX
miles 4y ago
> "[T]he company’s proposition that if anyone has access to data, then many unauthorized people probably will have access to that data is false. This response reflects a lack of faith in good governance..." What could possibly have given them such a disturbing lack of faith in "good governance"? NSA warrantless surveillance (2001–2007) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_(2001–2007) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_(... Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures_(2013–present) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosure... PRISM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM Mass surveillance in the United States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_the_Unite... NSA: Constitutionality, legality and privacy questions regarding operations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency#Constitutionality,_legality_and_privacy_questions_regarding_operations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency#Const... List of CIA controversies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CIA_controversies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CIA_controversies Domestic espionage sharing controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes#Domestic_espionage_sharing_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes#Domestic_espionage_s... > "There are some people who have access to the nuclear launch codes, but 'Mission Impossible' movies aside, we’re not particularly worried about a slippery slope leading to lots of unauthorized people having access to those codes." The mere existence of nukes (much like the existence of encryption backdoors) is certainly dangerous enough: When the U.S. Air Force Accidentally Dropped an Atomic Bomb on South Carolina https://www.thedailybeast.com/when-the-us-air-force-accidentally-dropped-an-atomic-bomb-on-mars-bluff-south-carolina https://www.thedailybeast.com/when-the-us-air-force-accident... 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash 60 years ago today, this man stopped the Cuban missile crisis from going nuclear https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/10/27/23426482/cuban-missile-crisis-basilica-arkhipov-nuclear-war https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/10/27/23426482/cuban... 39 years ago today, one man saved us from world-ending nuclear war https://www.vox.com/2018/9/26/17905796/nuclear-war-1983-stanislav-petrov-soviet-union https://www.vox.com/2018/9/26/17905796/nuclear-war-1983-stan...
throwaway0x7E6 4y ago
ah, carefully nudging the public opinion into the desired direction
numair 4y ago
> Signal’s users may not be the product, but they are the witting or unwitting advocates of the moral views of the 40 or so people who operate Signal. Whether you agree or disagree with the article, this is 100% true. We (the tech community) have the same problem with Mozilla.
wakana 4y ago
The ability of the Times to portray anyone they don't like as a right-wing nutjob is remarkable

7 points by wakana 4y ago

tl;dr: "Having any truly private means of communication is bad since terrorists, pedophiles, and the January 6th people benefit from that. Don't worry about backdoored encryption since the government is mostly good and probably won't spy on you anyway."

salil999 4y ago

https://archive.ph/2ABYX https://archive.ph/2ABYX

miles 4y ago

> "[T]he company’s proposition that if anyone has access to data, then many unauthorized people probably will have access to that data is false. This response reflects a lack of faith in good governance..." What could possibly have given them such a disturbing lack of faith in "good governance"? NSA warrantless surveillance (2001–2007) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_(2001–2007) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_(... Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures_(2013–present) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosure... PRISM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM Mass surveillance in the United States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_the_Unite... NSA: Constitutionality, legality and privacy questions regarding operations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency#Constitutionality,_legality_and_privacy_questions_regarding_operations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency#Const... List of CIA controversies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CIA_controversies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CIA_controversies Domestic espionage sharing controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes#Domestic_espionage_sharing_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes#Domestic_espionage_s... > "There are some people who have access to the nuclear launch codes, but 'Mission Impossible' movies aside, we’re not particularly worried about a slippery slope leading to lots of unauthorized people having access to those codes." The mere existence of nukes (much like the existence of encryption backdoors) is certainly dangerous enough: When the U.S. Air Force Accidentally Dropped an Atomic Bomb on South Carolina https://www.thedailybeast.com/when-the-us-air-force-accidentally-dropped-an-atomic-bomb-on-mars-bluff-south-carolina https://www.thedailybeast.com/when-the-us-air-force-accident... 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash 60 years ago today, this man stopped the Cuban missile crisis from going nuclear https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/10/27/23426482/cuban-missile-crisis-basilica-arkhipov-nuclear-war https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/10/27/23426482/cuban... 39 years ago today, one man saved us from world-ending nuclear war https://www.vox.com/2018/9/26/17905796/nuclear-war-1983-stanislav-petrov-soviet-union https://www.vox.com/2018/9/26/17905796/nuclear-war-1983-stan...

throwaway0x7E6 4y ago

ah, carefully nudging the public opinion into the desired direction

numair 4y ago

> Signal’s users may not be the product, but they are the witting or unwitting advocates of the moral views of the 40 or so people who operate Signal. Whether you agree or disagree with the article, this is 100% true. We (the tech community) have the same problem with Mozilla.

wakana 4y ago

The ability of the Times to portray anyone they don't like as a right-wing nutjob is remarkable