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FBI's ability to legally access secure messaging app content and metadata [pdf]

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Re: FBI's ability to legally access secure messaging app content and metadata [pdf]

#151
post #4

So if you have something to hide, don't use iCloud backup. And Whatsapp will give them the target's full contactbook (was to be expected), but also everyone that has the target in their contact list. That last one is quite far reaching.

> if you have something to hide Most people don't realize that most people have something to hide. The USA has so many laws on its books. Many of which are outright bizarre[0] and some of which normal people might normally break[1]. And that's only counting current/past laws. It wasn't that long ago a US President was suggesting all Muslims should be forced to carry special IDs[2]. If you have a documented history be…

> “Certain things will be done that we never thought would happen in this country in terms of information and learning about the enemy,” he added. “We’re going to have to do things that were frankly unthinkable a year ago.”

> “We’re going to have to look at a lot of things very closely,” Trump continued. “We’re going to have to look at the mosques. We’re going to have to look very, very carefully.”

That's all he said to the interviewer. The interviewer was asking the hypothetical and suggested the special identification! He wouldn't take the bait, so since he didn't answer the hypothetical they said "he wouldn't deny it" and wrote the campaign of hit piece articles anyway. Whatever response they got they would have wrote that same piece. If he would have answered one way they would have quoted out of context. Since he responded generically it's obviously drummed up. The fact check is hilarious. "Mixed", lol.

Never answer a hypothetical, it's always a trap.

Re: FBI's ability to legally access secure messaging app content and metadata [pdf]

#152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people responsible for investigating and prosecuting such crimes have some not so great incentives to avoid doing so and keep the whole thing secret though, don't they? And then when they get caught, they do this: https://cdt.org/insights/the-truth-about-telecom-immunity/

Sounds like an easy way to have your case tossed out in court. It's funny how much this differs from my own personal experience with law enforcement. The friends I know are timid as hell and don't do anything without a warrant just to stay on the safe side- even if they probably don't need one.

I'm just glad you're here to stick up for your friends without any corroboration or linking story. It's just a good thing to do.

Re: FBI's ability to legally access secure messaging app content and metadata [pdf]

#153
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I switched to signal and got few people to switch too, then they started their shit coin(MOB). IMO Signal Messenger is just a way for that company to reach their shit coin goals. Uninstalled and never recommending that again.

Are you sure you're not thinking of Telegram? They had a thing called Telegram Open Platform or something (TOP rings a bell for some reason)

Signal has some coin

https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360057625692-In...

Re: FBI's ability to legally access secure messaging app content and metadata [pdf]

#154

If this is what it takes to keep us safe, I and most americans are ok with it. We live in dangerous times. The US has a balanced criminal justice system -- as long as due process is preserved privacy from the state should not be a major issue

Current U.S. "due process" includes national security letters and other secret legal requests and secret courts to approve those requests. So there are still some checks and balances but it's less clear that they are working well enough or as intended.

Just look at the transparency reports of major Internet companies; they can report numbers of (certain types of) requests and that's about it. Mass surveillance under seal is not a great trend.

When political parties start advocating for jailing political opponents and treating the supreme court as political office for nominations, I find it harder to trust the current due process.

Re: FBI's ability to legally access secure messaging app content and metadata [pdf]

#155
post #86
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is correct. By default all messages sent over Telegram are stored permanently in their servers unencrypted.

Source for Telegram storing the information unencrypted at rest?

It is widely known and confirmed by Telegram themselves that your messages are encrypted at rest by keys they possess.

This is a similar process to what Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive, and Facebook Messenger do. Your files with cloud services aren’t stored unencrypted on a hard drive - they’re encrypted, with the keys kept somewhere else by the cloud provider. This way somebody can’t walk out with a rack and access user data.

Re: FBI's ability to legally access secure messaging app content and metadata [pdf]

#156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also: * Law enforcement simply asks nicely: can render all message content for the last 1-7 years

The Stored Communications Act makes disclosing the contents of messages without a search warrant unlawful

EO12333 makes it lawful without a warrant.

Re: FBI's ability to legally access secure messaging app content and metadata [pdf]

#157
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I switched to signal and got few people to switch too, then they started their shit coin(MOB). IMO Signal Messenger is just a way for that company to reach their shit coin goals. Uninstalled and never recommending that again.

I remember many people being pissed off when these features were announced some months ago. As far as I can tell, nothing really happened afterwards. I use Signal on a daily basis and haven't noticed any coin-related functionalities. Either they were canceled, haven't been released yet or they're just buried somewhere deep and not advertised. Do you have a different experience?

It's in beta, you can enable it in settings.

It's still a pain to buy MOB in the US so it's not that usable in the states. It would have been interesting to me if they just used Zcash instead of rolling their own, but I'm not sure what's supposed to be special about MOB vs. Zcash.

I also don't think it's that big of a deal.

Re: FBI's ability to legally access secure messaging app content and metadata [pdf]

#158
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like an easy way to have your case tossed out in court. It's funny how much this differs from my own personal experience with law enforcement. The friends I know are timid as hell and don't do anything without a warrant just to stay on the safe side- even if they probably don't need one.

The really smart cops get the tips using “less than legal” means, then walk back and reconstruct using legal evidence.

“Parallel Construction:”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction

Re: FBI's ability to legally access secure messaging app content and metadata [pdf]

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure you're not thinking of Telegram? They had a thing called Telegram Open Platform or something (TOP rings a bell for some reason)

Signal has some coin https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360057625692-In...

I think it's https://mobilecoin.com/

Re: FBI's ability to legally access secure messaging app content and metadata [pdf]

#160
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

for signal users this means the messages of course do exist on your phone, which will be the first thing these agencies seek to abscond with once youre detained as its infinitely more crackable in their hands. as a casual reminder: The fifth amendment protects your speech, not your biometrics. do not use face or fingerprint to secure your phone. use a strong passphrase, and if in doubt, power down the phone (android)…

Signal recently added 'disappearing messages' which lets you specify how long a chat you initiate remains before being deleted.

Keep in mind that any time a message is on flash storage there might be a hidden copy kept for flash technical reasons. It is hard to get to (particularly if the disk is encrypted) but might still be accessible in some cases.

I think encrypted messengers should have a "completely off the record" mode that can easily be switched on and off. Such a mode would guarantee that your messages are never stored anywhere that might become permanent. When you switch it off then everything is wiped from memory. That might be a good time to ensure any keys associated with a forward secrecy scheme are wiped as well.

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