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E2E encrypted messaging on Instagram will no longer be supported after 8 May

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Re: E2E encrypted messaging on Instagram will no longer be supported after 8 May

#51

Post by add-sub-mul-div »

everdrive wrote: post #36

There's a general trend right now against privacy and in a more general sense against freedom. More and more companies are on board with it. I'm not sure if anyone in HN has any useful advice in this regard. I feel like I don't know what to do about the internet for the next 5-10 years. Does this particular measure matter very much? No, but it's another brick in the wall.

You're on a site with a surprisingly high amount of support among commenters for trading privacy and freedom for convenience and comfort where it aligns with their religion/other biases or desired consumer experiences. I don't know if this the best place to ask for advice.

Re: E2E encrypted messaging on Instagram will no longer be supported after 8 May

#52

Post by aavci »

everdrive wrote: post #36

There's a general trend right now against privacy and in a more general sense against freedom. More and more companies are on board with it. I'm not sure if anyone in HN has any useful advice in this regard. I feel like I don't know what to do about the internet for the next 5-10 years. Does this particular measure matter very much? No, but it's another brick in the wall.

I wonder if promoting open-source tooling and best practices could make it easier for new apps to adopt security features like E2E encryption. For example, someone building a chat app might not add E2E encryption unless they have access to user-friendly tools and are encouraged to do so.

Startups that initially choose the more private implementation version often face a disadvantage. They may not see immediate benefits and instead experience drawbacks, such as caring a bit more than their competitors. For example, an AI plugin using local large language models for privacy might not be rewarded as much as a competitor who fully embraces cloud-based solutions.

Re: E2E encrypted messaging on Instagram will no longer be supported after 8 May

#55

Post by ls612 »

everdrive wrote: post #36

There's a general trend right now against privacy and in a more general sense against freedom. More and more companies are on board with it. I'm not sure if anyone in HN has any useful advice in this regard. I feel like I don't know what to do about the internet for the next 5-10 years. Does this particular measure matter very much? No, but it's another brick in the wall.

It's depressing to think that after the abuses people suffered during the lockdowns the response has been to embrace authoritarianism even more. It makes me fear how far this could go before people realize how bad it is.

Fundamentally I think that liberal democracy won't be able to survive compute, communication, and storage being cheap, combined with asymmetric encryption. I really think there should be an article illustrating just how much that last one is fundamental to making the apparatus of control cheap and effective in a way that 20th century regimes could only dream of.

Re: E2E encrypted messaging on Instagram will no longer be supported after 8 May

#57

Post by gzread »

garbawarb wrote: post #3

When Meta starting introducing E2E messaging it was a huge push. I wonder why they're doing away with it.

PR. They wanted to seem like the good guys, but they get your messages through backdoors like the automatic backup.

Re: E2E encrypted messaging on Instagram will no longer be supported after 8 May

#58

Post by gzread »

garbawarb wrote: post #25
varispeed wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably Whatsapp is next, if it isn't quietly already.

I doubt it, E2E isba huge part of Whatsapp's selling point considering it's exclusively a messaging app. Instagram is primarily a social app with messaging features.

Normal people don't choose a messaging app based on E2EE but based on whether their friends use it.

Re: E2E encrypted messaging on Instagram will no longer be supported after 8 May

#59

Post by ultratalk »

krystalgamer wrote: post #45
everdrive wrote: post #36

There's a general trend right now against privacy and in a more general sense against freedom. More and more companies are on board with it. I'm not sure if anyone in HN has any useful advice in this regard. I feel like I don't know what to do about the internet for the next 5-10 years. Does this particular measure matter very much? No, but it's another brick in the wall.

i don't understand this doomer mentality regarding the internet. internet is a service that you choose what to engage and how. don't like a platform? find another, build it or stop using it altogether. personally, i find these things really great has it helps nudge people into the more decentralized web. a few years ago those who were pushing for privacy respecting apps and platforms were deemed too paranoid.

Network effects will keep a person on a platform until a critical mass of their social circle decide to leave all at once. I'm no expert, but I suspect that that critical mass is pretty high, maybe more than 50% of a person's circle. So it's not exactly vanilla free-market competition. Entrenched players have a pretty big advantage.

Re: E2E encrypted messaging on Instagram will no longer be supported after 8 May

#60

Post by gzread »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #49
GuB-42 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, Instagram is a public platform at its core, where people publish things for the whole world to see. Private messages are just a secondary feature. It is like having a conversation in a restaurant, where the guy at the next table can listen to everything, but usually doesn't. Good enough for planning a surprise party, not for truly sensitive information. Kind of like private messages in Reddit, Discord, etc...…

Sure, but if you already have e2ee, it takes work to remove it... why invest the time to do that?

It also takes work to keep it working and it may have a lot of bugs already, that are hard to fix because of it. A non-E2EE chat app is very easy to make.
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