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You can change your number

signal.org

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Re: You can change your number

#191

Post by rcarback »

godelski wrote: post #170
rcarback wrote: post #136

It is early stage, but there is now an alternative to Signal that doesn't use phone numbers at all: https://xx.network/messenger/ While you can add your number to be searchable by others, it doesn't let strangers with your number know you signed up automatically, either. Full disclosure: I work on the infrastructure behind it.

How is this handling usernames? I understand doing this is actually hard if you want them to replace the issues that are carried with phone numbers (i.e. being able to connect with an identity through cross referencing). And of course, birthday problems.

First come first serve right now. Identity is based on keys generated on device and the usernames are based on a network service which I expect we will decentralize (i.e., set up your own like e-mail).

Re: You can change your number

#192

Post by rcarback »

pomian wrote: post #164
rcarback wrote: post #136

It is early stage, but there is now an alternative to Signal that doesn't use phone numbers at all: https://xx.network/messenger/ While you can add your number to be searchable by others, it doesn't let strangers with your number know you signed up automatically, either. Full disclosure: I work on the infrastructure behind it.

Can you use this to send texts via SMS to regular phone numbers? How does this differ from Linphone?

No it can't use SMS as a transport.

It protects metadata using a mixnet and the E2E encryption for authenticated channels uses post quantum cryptography(SIDH) to establish symmetric keys. The infrastructure is run by 3rd party node runners and there's an open source API for other applications in addition to the messenger being open source.

Re: You can change your number

#193

Post by hndamien »

godelski wrote: post #160
Vinnl wrote: post #2

> We built Change Number using the foundation of more exciting features to come. Surely this is referring to the ability to use a non-phone number ID, which they've hinted at before [1]. Looking forward to that, only because I know many others are! [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/kt91qk/comment/...

I think the real question is what "usernames" will look like. There were hints dropped that this could be stronger than a typical username (like what HN has). I took a poll on reddit[0][1] to see what people wanted. I was rather surprised at how many wanted strong anonymity. I expected that the top choice would be the weak anonymity, where people just have an alternative to phone numbers. But I think if that's what S…

https://getsession.org/ Already does all of these.

Re: You can change your number

#194

Post by scgtrp »

wolverine876 wrote: post #152
tptacek wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Discord works by keeping a serverside database of which people are talking to which people, which is, to a serious adversary, the most valuable single piece of information the service can cough up. Discord is much, much more convenient than Signal, and that's good. The services have different goals.

How is Discord more convenient? I don't mean the question critically, but I wonder what a sophisticated user sees in Discord when Signal seems, to me, as convenient as texting and calling.

One big thing Signal is bad at for me is using from a computer.

They have a desktop client, but it's just a weird thing that proxies through my phone in a sort of bizarre backwards self-hosting sort of way.

Re: You can change your number

#195

Post by crtasm »

stjohnswarts wrote: post #94
theamk wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question: do you use Signal? If yes, are you backing up/syncing your contact list? If yes, are you worried about Feds coming for your backup/sync provider?

Isn't your contact list encrypted? I mean wouldn't they have to hack my password (good luck) to do that?

When you backup to/sync via Apple or Google? No.

Re: You can change your number

#196

Post by clairity »

godelski wrote: post #160
Vinnl wrote: post #2

> We built Change Number using the foundation of more exciting features to come. Surely this is referring to the ability to use a non-phone number ID, which they've hinted at before [1]. Looking forward to that, only because I know many others are! [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/kt91qk/comment/...

I think the real question is what "usernames" will look like. There were hints dropped that this could be stronger than a typical username (like what HN has). I took a poll on reddit[0][1] to see what people wanted. I was rather surprised at how many wanted strong anonymity. I expected that the top choice would be the weak anonymity, where people just have an alternative to phone numbers. But I think if that's what S…

i'd expect it to be much like imessages/facetime on apple products. it can use an email username or a telephone number. the telephone number predominates (because it also does sms/mms), but either can be used on any apple product.

Re: You can change your number

#197

Post by SailingSperm »

UncleMeat wrote: post #76
rvz wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Why on earth is it so hard or difficult for Signal to do just that? Regardless, I don't know why they are pushing in a somewhat unregulated, volatile cryptocurrency that will be used by extremists, terrorists and the like who in no doubt will not only use it to fund their activities and will be sitting in their group chats but now they can change their phone numbers to hide even further? The road to hell is…

This has been discussed literally 1000 times. The alternative is having the server know who is talking to whom. Further, phone numbers provide a valuable bootstrap to connect with people. Other secure messengers have chosen a different design than Signal. This means you can choose the one you prefer.

How about no ph number and only UUIDs- You send a msg that only personA can decrypt - but you broadcast the encrypted message to all contacts /+ random UUIDs ... So signal doesn't know who it was intended for exactly, and only personA gets the information. Of course you'd want the app to only alert users getting the broadcast once a received comm is successfully decrypted, otherwise discard.

It's clearly a lot higher data overhead, but that'd acheive phone numberless accounts without signal knowing 100% A is talking to B.... Only that 'A' might be talking to 'B'..Or C..or D.. Or sending decoy msgs intended for nobody.

Settling for phone numbers on a privacy based messenger because it's too hard to do an alternative implem is a cop out I feel. What do you think of the above proposal?

Re: You can change your number

#198

Post by godelski »

hndamien wrote: post #193
godelski wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the real question is what "usernames" will look like. There were hints dropped that this could be stronger than a typical username (like what HN has). I took a poll on reddit[0][1] to see what people wanted. I was rather surprised at how many wanted strong anonymity. I expected that the top choice would be the weak anonymity, where people just have an alternative to phone numbers. But I think if that's what S…

https://getsession.org/ Already does all of these.

I am under the impression that sessions only does #1 and does #2 with weak anonymity. Can you explain how it solves all 3?

Re: You can change your number

#199

Post by godelski »

gst wrote: post #177
godelski wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the real question is what "usernames" will look like. There were hints dropped that this could be stronger than a typical username (like what HN has). I took a poll on reddit[0][1] to see what people wanted. I was rather surprised at how many wanted strong anonymity. I expected that the top choice would be the weak anonymity, where people just have an alternative to phone numbers. But I think if that's what S…

> I think the real question is what "usernames" will look like. There were hints dropped that this could be stronger than a typical username (like what HN has). Quite a bit of code related to usernames has already been checked into Signal. Here's the username regexp and the method that checks if a username is valid: https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/blob/a5e5a735800...

Yeah I'm a little upset about this. It is just set up for birthday problems. I'd be happy if it was you handing out a random string or 1-time code and then you pick a username per chat. But a global username identifier isn't anonymous (not any more than a phone number anyways) and I do not believe is a good solution.

Re: You can change your number

#200

Post by missedthecue »

Aachen wrote: post #178
rcarback wrote: post #136

It is early stage, but there is now an alternative to Signal that doesn't use phone numbers at all: https://xx.network/messenger/ While you can add your number to be searchable by others, it doesn't let strangers with your number know you signed up automatically, either. Full disclosure: I work on the infrastructure behind it.

In years of browsing desktop-focused websites on my phone, this is the first website that lags at 2fps while I try to use it. High-end Samsung phone from ~2 years ago (second hand) so cpu power definitely isn't the issue. It also goes back up the page randomly if I scroll a certain way, maybe it tries to lock the view to a certain region rather than in between? No idea what's going on with that site but I can't check…

No problems for me on a Samsung Galaxy S10, using Chrome. Maybe it's your browser.
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