I did. It's possible. I'm using only Signal now.

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Anyone has a suggestion for a free / open source alternative to Slack?

Don’t use privacytools it’s maintained by a singular person and recommends shady VPNs.

Use privacyguides instead which is maintained by the old team of privacy tools. https://www.privacyguides.org/real-time-communication/

What's the best alternative to Messenger Kids? My kids are harrassing me to get it but I'm standing firm.

https://latacora.micro.blog/2019/07/16/the-pgp-problem.html gives a very good view on the issues in my opinion.

>hope, though I doubt it will ever happen, that people learn that privacy is a you thing. It requires you to do the work. Not someone else. If you are relying on a third party to secure your own communication - you are at risk.

I completely disagree. Well-designed privacy does not need you to do work for it and pay attention because it just requires one slip (edit: for bad privacy to break). People make mistakes.

That just apart from our plugin at work that sometimes forgets to actually encrypt mails. Very rare but it happens.

No one cares until they do.

And yet, they (privacy-tools) end up recommending VPNs that the privacy community would consider radioactive

PrivacyTools disappeared then sold out to advertisers, hence the site now recommending services that would NEVER be accepted by the community just to make a buck.

Thx for sharing, good read

I think you've mixed that up? PrivacyGuides stole everything from PrivacyTools: https://www.privacytools.io/guides/jonah-aragon-privacyguides-failed-attempt-to-takeover

PrivacyTools is still run by the same person for 7 years, while PrivacyGuides is run by new people from Five Eyes countries.

PrivacyTools should not be trusted anymore, the team that were managing the site all moved on to PrivacyGuides.org (here's their page on messaging apps)

The likes of what app and Google and Microsoft etc are like the Borg.

They will assimilate anything that is a threat to them.

It's absolutely ridiculous they pulled sms support. Now I have less than a week or two to find a new app.

I use iMessage for friends and family; secure enough for low grade traffic.

For work Signal, and if there is some weirdo colleague or vendor who will not adopt it, they are just going to have to use email and wait.

Because not everyone has it, and nobody wanted to juggle yet another messenger app.

Lol, if you all have it, why do you need SMS?

Many of my friends and family have moved to Signal.

I'm. Dangerous.

> 36 CRF 2.20? Fuck yeah bitches! Broke the fuck outta that one.

You were roller skating in a national park?

https://xkcd.com/538/

Nobody gives a shit what you're writing to each other.

Nobody gives a shit what you write.

HEY NSA! I DO ALL THE CRIMES! JUST LIKE SOOOO MANY! 36 CRF 2.20? Fuck yeah bitches! Broke the fuck outta that one.

Nobody. Gives. A. Shit.

Signal had SMS integration with Android, and a desktop app that was tiny and mostly functional. It was the only one I could get anyone to switch to, and now they've pulled SMS support so we're all leaving.

Just use signal. I’ve had all my friends and family on there for nearly a decade. Somehow even convinced my mom and dad.

One day, the tides will turn, and people will take open-source/decentralization to heart.

There is a fundamental aspect of privacy in tech that people ignore or are completely ignorant of: a third party is the security risk.

I've been emailing with a colleague for nearly two decades using private key encryption.

He's got my public key, I've got his.

That's it. That's all that's needed. It removes the third party risk completely. We can send each other messages and post them publicly on billboards for all I care - without my key, you can't read it. Without his key, you can't read his.

I hope, though I doubt it will ever happen, that people learn that privacy is a you thing. It requires you to do the work. Not someone else. If you are relying on a third party to secure your own communication - you are at risk.

The simplest thing ever is a standardized, open-source comms hub that people can spin up for $5/mo. Just a network to route encrypted packages. That's it. It doesn't require anything beyond that.

Yeah, good luck trying to migrate all your friends and family to a new one.