PSA: Use the Signal Private Messenger for secure texts and calls

[Kirk615]

I keep up with encryption technology and can recommend using Signal Private Messenger, the best secure messaging app that exists today. Ask your friends to use it as well.



Key features:
* The app uses your phone number as your ID. It's easy to see if a contact is using Signal too.
* Signal messages and calls are always end-to-end encrypted. No one can read your messages or see who you have been messaging with.
* Keep your chat history tidy with messages that you can set to disappear after a period of time (e.g. one week). This is great for making sure that confidential information is cleaned up.
* Send group, text, voice, video, document and picture messages.
* Make voice and video calls.
* Android, iPhone, Windows and Mac!

Install the app on your Android or iPhone device first. You can then optionally install it on a Mac or Windows PC and see your chats on PC and smartphone at the same time.

[JdeHog]

I'll have to check this out, thanks for the heads-up.

[mitnick1488]

Signal is the greatest. Google Voice can supply you a working mobile number as well

[KayC_K]

Thanks for the tip, this is going on my phone today!

[Luvtheladies2010]

Good stuff Kirk!

LTL

[Kirk615]

Bump.

[2please]

thanks for the infos

[Anonymous01]

And Senator Lindsay Graham is quietly attaching a rider bill to the multi billion dollar COVID 19 relief bill that would outlaw encryption in the good old free US of A.


Google Voice just makes it soooo easy for the NSA to keep tabs on you. Google's largest single source of revenue is the multi billion dollar payments for routing all traffic on the routers and platforms (Android, Chrome) in real time to the intel agencies.

[LuciaConte]

Thanks for the info! Telegram is good too!

[dude0204]

LINE app can do all that. It does not show your number, but can use add friends from contact if they use LINE too.

[CowboyDave]

Originally Posted by Anonymous01

And Senator Lindsay Graham is quietly attaching a rider bill to the multi billion dollar COVID 19 relief bill that would outlaw encryption in the good old free US of A.


Google Voice just makes it soooo easy for the NSA to keep tabs on you. Google's largest single source of revenue is the multi billion dollar payments for routing all traffic on the routers and platforms (Android, Chrome) in real time to the intel agencies.

Google is evil. I avoid anything Google as much as possible. I use Burner. But the best plan is to have a completely seperate hobby phone.

[kuroisan]

If possible, use services from Switzerland. Unlike the US, they are dead serious about privacy laws and keeping their jurisdiction independent. Protonmail + ProtonVPN + Signal is a good combination in general. Just make sure you don't tie Signal to your "normal" phone number. You should definitely have a separate hobby phone that does not use Android or iOS. A phone with KaiOS should do. You won't have Signal but you will have Whatsapp, which I believe still uses the Signal protocol for end-to-end encryption. End to end encryption basically means that only you and your correspondent have the encryption/decryption keys for the messages exchanged. So if the gov subpoena's Signal or FB for your messages, they will received garbled contents and would need to figure out the decryption key themselves. Unless quantum computers become mainstream, I don't see that happening quickly, easily or cheaply. This is why Graham, Cotton and Blackburn are pitching the LEAD Act to the senate and need to be stopped from doing so. They think like lawyers, not like techs. They don't know wtf they are doing.

[CPFBurner]

SO it's a general text app as well? Or does it only work for 2 signal users. Like a messenger app.

[EquateMan]

Originally Posted by CPFBurner

SO it's a general text app as well? Or does it only work for 2 signal users. Like a messenger app.

It's a general text app as well. Kinda like iMessage, but not restricted to Apple. If the other user has Signal, it routes a secure message over Signal. Otherwise, it sends a traditional text.

I do wonder for you iPhone users, seems like you'd kinda have to choose between Signal or iMessage, or just know which app to use for which contacts?

For me, it kinda sucks because my primary number is a Google Voice line, so I don't get native texts in the first place. It makes the integration much less clean.

[BooneDawg]

Why not just use "WhatsApp"? It's encrypted from what I understand. What about the "Burner" app.