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Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on Signal

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Re: Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on Signal

#13
post #9

Is it really surprising that he would have all of the most popular messaging apps? Facebook’s playbook of copying popular features from apps gaining traction is by no means a secret. I’m not totally convinced by the narrative that Mark doesn’t trust his own tools so he prefers Signal.

Yeah, it is likely that he was just checking up on the competition. I wouldn't be surprised if turned the narrative on this by saying something like the following:

"I was curious to check it out.. it wasn't very good, so I reverted back to Messenger/Whatsapp."

IIRC, he made similar comments when he was spotted using G+.

Disclaimer: My views are my own (and not necessarily shared by my employers).

Re: Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on Signal

#14

Isn’t a bit of a privacy flaw that signal exposes who uses the app by phone number?

It is. Its also a security issue - Phone numbers aren't unique. It was interesting seeing signal say my deceased father was 'on signal', it's just the same number recycled to someone else.

Re: Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on Signal

#15

Isn’t a bit of a privacy flaw that signal exposes who uses the app by phone number?

How so? I don't find it violating in any way that someone knows that I'm using a messenging app due to my phone number. They aren't exactly private in the first place.

It would be the same if there were usernames, although those would be far harder to assign to a person. Thankfully, Signal is working on that feature and hopefully it's released soon. I'd like to one day not have any phone number at all. It's a system that feels very much antiquated...

Re: Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on Signal

#16
post #7

I would have thought that Mark of all people would have complete faith in the privacy of Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Very curious indeed.

He is probably aware that other Facebook employees can crack into Whatsapp traffic at will. It might be unwise to be caught doing it to his account; and probably best to make it look like it was somebody else doing it.

We're going to need a citation for this claim

Re: Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on Signal

#17

Isn’t a bit of a privacy flaw that signal exposes who uses the app by phone number?

How so? I don't find it violating in any way that someone knows that I'm using a messenging app due to my phone number. They aren't exactly private in the first place. It would be the same if there were usernames, although those would be far harder to assign to a person. Thankfully, Signal is working on that feature and hopefully it's released soon. I'd like to one day not have any phone number at all. It's a system…

https://app.wire.com already has that feature and it is based on signal protocol.

Re: Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on Signal

#18

Isn’t a bit of a privacy flaw that signal exposes who uses the app by phone number?

For a normal consumer it's not a flaw. But if you are a journalist or in any profession where sharing number is a big NO then yes it's not a good design.

Case 1: me and my friend want to communicate on signal. If he messages me on Signal there won't be any way to know if that's actually him. I would have to call him and confirm if its really him. For a tech-savvy person who is like crazy about privacy this is not a big deal. But for a normal consumer this make them remove the signal.

Case 2: You want to message someone who you already communicate via WhatsApp or calls on signal. Again from an average consumer point. Calling them and asking them for their signal ID is again inconvenient. Imagine doing this for 400 contacts if you try to move from WhatsApp to signal.

There are other secure messaging app which doesn't require number or even email. But then again, you meet the person or call him and then get his id.

Not sharing mobile number is really for few selected cases and those people form a very small percentage of the market.

Having a feature similar to telegram where you share your number with selected people. Or have a disposal ID which can be used to start a chat and then dispose that ID so that it can'be used again or linked to your account. Something like this would make more sense and probably serve that small percentage of people as well. An ID which gets destroyed once it's used to make a connection. One time use ID only. This is a good way as well. Secret chats which stays on one device only, or you need separate credential for.

I should be able to make a sample app like this. It can be a good demo project.

Re: Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on Signal

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How so? I don't find it violating in any way that someone knows that I'm using a messenging app due to my phone number. They aren't exactly private in the first place. It would be the same if there were usernames, although those would be far harder to assign to a person. Thankfully, Signal is working on that feature and hopefully it's released soon. I'd like to one day not have any phone number at all. It's a system…

https://app.wire.com already has that feature and it is based on signal protocol.

Has it been audited by external, independent security researchers?
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