Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

If you care about privacy, you should not use Google Allo

motherboard.vice.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 153 posts

Re: If you care about privacy, you should not use Google Allo

#61

Post by reitanqild »

oceanswave wrote: post #17

I pay cash for all my transactions. I don't own a car because I fear that the registration systems for licensing and taxes will gather information about me and we know that those government data systems are most vulnerable to attack. When I travel, it's by bus only - requiring a form of identification at the airport is a front to government spying. Unfortunately, the bus systems are starting to require too much infor…

HNers, take notice. This was brilliant and funny.

(Oh, and yes one giveaway is "I'm concerned that they may tell others and pretty soon everyone is going to start showing up at my home and my job and frankly I don't...". This coupled with a history of using irony and/or sarcasm and I am sure this is as well.)

Re: If you care about privacy, you should not use Google Allo

#62

Post by Zigurd »

_pmf_ wrote: post #15

Relax; it's a Google side product. With 95% certainty, it'll be dead within one year.

Unfortunately, Allo and Duo are off in yet another direction for Google messaging products:

Hangouts

Messenger

Docs chat (Didn't think of that one, did you?)

Jibe RCS client (rumored)

Allo

Duo

All of these have different underlying technologies and are aimed at different partners and competitors.

Re: If you care about privacy, you should not use Google Allo

#63

Post by nothrabannosir »

ac29 wrote: post #56
nothrabannosir wrote: post #40

Google would be insane to not offer some version of end-to-end encryption in a chat app in 2016, when all of its biggest competitors have it enabled by default. Who are all of its biggest competitors? Messenger sure doesn't do this (does it even have E2E at all?), Skype doesn't, either. Telegram, even if you considered it a big competitor, did they finally enable E2E by default? Or do you still have to open a "secure…

I think this is the most important to me. On Android, this is only the second app that is likely to have a large userbase and e2e encryption for chats. The fact that its opt-in is a non issue to me. Didn't know WhatsApp had default e2e encryption. Might install it and check it out. I imagine it sends some sort of personal information back to the facebook mothership, though.

WhatsApp doesn't just have e2e encryption by default; they actually hired (or just contracted?) Moxie to implement the signal protocol:

Over the past year, we've been progressively rolling out Signal Protocol support for all WhatsApp communication across all WhatsApp clients. This includes chats, group chats, attachments, voice notes, and voice calls across Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Nokia S40, Nokia S60, Blackberry, and BB10.

As of today [2016/4/5], the integration is fully complete.

- https://whispersystems.org/blog/whatsapp-complete/

Re: If you care about privacy, you should not use Google Allo

#64

Post by logfromblammo »

oceanswave wrote: post #17

I pay cash for all my transactions. I don't own a car because I fear that the registration systems for licensing and taxes will gather information about me and we know that those government data systems are most vulnerable to attack. When I travel, it's by bus only - requiring a form of identification at the airport is a front to government spying. Unfortunately, the bus systems are starting to require too much infor…

This looks like hyperbole to me, but I have interacted with characters on the Internet that make this look normal.

Except those are more like "Watch out, Murica. Gummint jerst wants you to register so's they know whar to go when they come to terk yer guns! After, they'll round us up into consarnitration camps 'n' turn us all inter hamburgers ter feed th' lizard folk what runs ever'thin'."

They pay non-Mint silver bullion rounds for all their transactions, and only travel at night, by horse.

Poe's Law applies.

Re: If you care about privacy, you should not use Google Allo

#65

Post by flyt »

ac29 wrote: post #56
nothrabannosir wrote: post #40

Google would be insane to not offer some version of end-to-end encryption in a chat app in 2016, when all of its biggest competitors have it enabled by default. Who are all of its biggest competitors? Messenger sure doesn't do this (does it even have E2E at all?), Skype doesn't, either. Telegram, even if you considered it a big competitor, did they finally enable E2E by default? Or do you still have to open a "secure…

I think this is the most important to me. On Android, this is only the second app that is likely to have a large userbase and e2e encryption for chats. The fact that its opt-in is a non issue to me. Didn't know WhatsApp had default e2e encryption. Might install it and check it out. I imagine it sends some sort of personal information back to the facebook mothership, though.

It doesn't send any personal data back to WhatsApp/Facebook, all it needs to work is a phone number.

Re: If you care about privacy, you should not use Google Allo

#66

Post by amaks »

Bad article. There is technological constraint that leads to inability to use end-to-end encryption when using bots (note that they are not only Google's but also 3rt party's). Same is true for other messaging platforms that use bots including Facebook Messenger. Individual messages are encrypted inflight. If you need end-to-end encryption then use incognito mode. IMO this looks like a perfect balance of privacy and functionality.

Re: If you care about privacy, you should not use Google Allo

#67

Post by jweir »

oceanswave wrote: post #17

I pay cash for all my transactions. I don't own a car because I fear that the registration systems for licensing and taxes will gather information about me and we know that those government data systems are most vulnerable to attack. When I travel, it's by bus only - requiring a form of identification at the airport is a front to government spying. Unfortunately, the bus systems are starting to require too much infor…

Jack Reacher?

Re: If you care about privacy, you should not use Google Allo

#68

Post by TheOneTrueKyle »

webkike wrote: post #59
cobralibre wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All kinds of clever and subtle things become possible in human communication when you stop insisting on overt signposts to interpretation and instead rely on your wit, experience, and judgment to resolve (or accept) possible ambiguities.

There is nothing in his post to assume humor either way, "overt signpost" or not. This is written text, where you don't have the signposts that vocal communication allows, such as sarcasm. I don't insist on "overt signposts" but I'm not going to pretend that there was anything in the post to make the author's point clear. So here I am relying on my wit, experience, and judgement and I have no way to resolve either wa…

This is interesting because I would never consider this comment serious whatsoever until I looked at the comments. I agree with cobralibre that you need to rely on your wit, experience, and judgement. Language is very nuanced and can't be taken literal.

This is also under the assumption that the person in question isn't a sociopath.

Re: If you care about privacy, you should not use Google Allo

#70

Post by JustSomeNobody »

"Don't Use Allo"

Wasn't planning on it. The people I communicate with use either Hangouts or iMessage. I don't have room for YAMS (Yet Another Messaging Service).

Google now has what? half doesn't ways to send messages? This time next year, how many will they have shutdown? I'm not moving until Hangouts is one of the victims.

Post reply on HN