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Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive

signal.org

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Re: Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive

#621

Post by nerdbert »

nurple wrote: post #477
akprasad wrote: post #255

I just donated $10 to Signal. Here's how to do so on iPhone in less than a minute: 1. Open Signal and click on your user icon in the upper left. 2. Go to "Settings" --> "Donate to Signal". 3. Click "Donate", select your donation options, and pay with Apple Pay.

I guess maybe I'm missing the purported point of signal, attaching your phone number to use it notwithstanding, but attaching payment identity to it as well? Like, what's the point of going through the pain required to use it?

Most people using Signal - and particularly most people likely to donate - are not using it to hide their identities, but to decrease the chance of unknown parties reading their conversations. My Signal account has my full name on it, and checking my top contacts, most of them do too (some only have their first name).

Re: Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive

#622

Post by tekla »

devit wrote: post #610

These costs seem absurd. For instance, 1.3$ million per year for storage??? Apparently, they have 40 million users, so 1 MB per user (seems reasonable for Signal) means 40TB. You can buy a 4TB SSD for $200, which means you need $2000 one-time for 1MB per user. How they get from $2000 to 1.3$ million is a mystery. As for SMS registration, if they are spending 6 million, maybe they should find some way of doing it for…

1mb per user? What is this 1992?

Re: Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive

#623

Post by wmfiv »

devit wrote: post #610

These costs seem absurd. For instance, 1.3$ million per year for storage??? Apparently, they have 40 million users, so 1 MB per user (seems reasonable for Signal) means 40TB. You can buy a 4TB SSD for $200, which means you need $2000 one-time for 1MB per user. How they get from $2000 to 1.3$ million is a mystery. As for SMS registration, if they are spending 6 million, maybe they should find some way of doing it for…

Was this intended as satire? I honestly can't tell.

Re: Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive

#624

Post by nerdbert »

heavyset_go wrote: post #411
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely reasonable but the ultra privacy-conscious/paranoid can't easily donate or pay privately.

Signal requires a real phone number to open an account, you are not anonymous to Signal.

I can pop into almost any phone shop around here and walk out with a free SIM card, which I can top up for cash.

Re: Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive

#625

Post by nojvek »

devit wrote: post #610

These costs seem absurd. For instance, 1.3$ million per year for storage??? Apparently, they have 40 million users, so 1 MB per user (seems reasonable for Signal) means 40TB. You can buy a 4TB SSD for $200, which means you need $2000 one-time for 1MB per user. How they get from $2000 to 1.3$ million is a mystery. As for SMS registration, if they are spending 6 million, maybe they should find some way of doing it for…

Surely 1MB/user for the whole year is more than enough.

It’s in the realm of “64KB of RAM should be more than enough for any computer”

Re: Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive

#626

Post by devit »

ghosty141 wrote: post #620
devit wrote: post #610

These costs seem absurd. For instance, 1.3$ million per year for storage??? Apparently, they have 40 million users, so 1 MB per user (seems reasonable for Signal) means 40TB. You can buy a 4TB SSD for $200, which means you need $2000 one-time for 1MB per user. How they get from $2000 to 1.3$ million is a mystery. As for SMS registration, if they are spending 6 million, maybe they should find some way of doing it for…

1MB per User? People share tons of pictures and videos, I‘d guess that the average is more in the 0.5 to 2GB range.

I assume they only need to store it between the time it is sent and the time it is received by the recipient.

Maybe the problem is that the Signal app doesn't eagerly download messages upon notification? They should start doing that given the money issues.

Re: Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive

#627

Post by [deleted] »

ghosty141 wrote: post #620
devit wrote: post #610

These costs seem absurd. For instance, 1.3$ million per year for storage??? Apparently, they have 40 million users, so 1 MB per user (seems reasonable for Signal) means 40TB. You can buy a 4TB SSD for $200, which means you need $2000 one-time for 1MB per user. How they get from $2000 to 1.3$ million is a mystery. As for SMS registration, if they are spending 6 million, maybe they should find some way of doing it for…

1MB per User? People share tons of pictures and videos, I‘d guess that the average is more in the 0.5 to 2GB range.

[deleted]

Re: Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive

#628

Post by nerdbert »

lxgr wrote: post #327
dghlsakjg wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not who you are responding to, but my guess is that it was all fixed costs. They spend $20mm (or whatever) to maintain access, and maintain infrastructure and they get to send as many SMS messages as they want. So sending 1 costs the same as sending a 10 million. It isn't that they are free to send, its that they are charged for access to the system, but aren't charged per message.

> spend $20mm (or whatever) to maintain access, and maintain infrastructure and they get to send as many SMS messages as they want. This is not how SMS pricing works in many, if not, most countries.

I don't know of countries that mandate a minimum price. If you are doing high volume you are free to work directly with carriers. If you are drawing as much billable traffic as you are sending, then that could even be a wash.

Re: Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive

#629

Post by tobinfricke »

k_bx wrote: post #618
devit wrote: post #610

These costs seem absurd. For instance, 1.3$ million per year for storage??? Apparently, they have 40 million users, so 1 MB per user (seems reasonable for Signal) means 40TB. You can buy a 4TB SSD for $200, which means you need $2000 one-time for 1MB per user. How they get from $2000 to 1.3$ million is a mystery. As for SMS registration, if they are spending 6 million, maybe they should find some way of doing it for…

Sorry, how does 1 mb per user seem reasonable? I’m sending tons of videos, documents and pictures, probably beyond a gigabyte daily. Just one video is like 40Mb. 1Mb assumption seems absurd

It's not stored on the server, except perhaps transiently.

Re: Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive

#630

Post by resonantjacket5 »

wmfiv wrote: post #623
devit wrote: post #610

These costs seem absurd. For instance, 1.3$ million per year for storage??? Apparently, they have 40 million users, so 1 MB per user (seems reasonable for Signal) means 40TB. You can buy a 4TB SSD for $200, which means you need $2000 one-time for 1MB per user. How they get from $2000 to 1.3$ million is a mystery. As for SMS registration, if they are spending 6 million, maybe they should find some way of doing it for…

Was this intended as satire? I honestly can't tell.

I think it's satire? Or perhaps they didn't know one can send pictures and videos on Signal and assumed it was only text.
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