Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

581–590 of 665 posts

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#581

Post by dunefox »

crtasm wrote: post #393
reader_mode wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a friendly, easy to use chat app with stickers & voice messages (also strong encryption). Except it's not, strong encryption and privacy emphasis goes against easy to use. I recently got my family to switch to Telegram (because I like the interface) - my sister works in an environment where she has to have a separate work phone without a camera and everything synced up out of the box, history, etc. Brother lost his…

I don't disagree that Telegram storing everything on their servers is very convenient, but: > you don't even sync between active devices I use Signal on a phone and a laptop, switching between the two frequently throughout the day and see the same conversations on both. (Edit: I realised you probably meant multiple phones, yes I see that's not yet supported.) >and you can forget about having old conversations on a ne…

> I use Signal on a phone and a laptop, switching between the two frequently throughout the day and see the same conversations on both.

Frequently messages aren't even synchronised between those two or they're out of order. Also, the desktop client itself is a bit of a joke.

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#582

Post by dunefox »

simias wrote: post #527
reader_mode wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I use Signal on a phone and a laptop, switching between the two frequently throughout the day and see the same conversations on both. I've had multiple issues with this before I gave up on Signal, it wouldn't show history when I initially paired up even when importing forever, then randomly stopped being connected and required me to pair again (losing everything on PC again) > There's been a manual, secure transfer…

Same experience here. I'm absolutely flabbergasted that the Signal devs decided to implement something like stickers (which, btw, are a pale imitation of what Telegram offers in terms of ease of use and discovery) before they implemented full message sync between devices. I have a smartphone that I control. I have a desktop computer that I control. I use an application on both computers that lets me send secure messa…

Stickers probably were much easier and quicker to implement and they're important for many people. It's not a difficult decision.

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#583

Post by edent »

hiq wrote: post #134
edent wrote: post #9

The UK already has faster payments in all major banks. I can send and receive money instantly from app or Web. Will yours be as fast as that? The UK has a problem with authorised push payment fraud. Banks can recover funds which have been sent as a result of phishing / fraud. How can I reverse a payment on your platform if it was fraudulent? The UK also has receiver verification. If I try to send to an account and it…

> Most banks let the user block receiving payments from specific accounts. How do you stop harassers sending unwanted money? First time I read about that, how does this work in practice? A person regularly sends you small amounts such that all you see is their name whenever you log into your bank account?

Yes. In the UK you can send a payment reference alongside the payment.

Imagine getting a dozen messages saying

£0.01 From: Your Stalker Ex. Ref: I just want you back!

Or similar. It's a real problem.

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#584

Post by dunefox »

glsdfgkjsklfj wrote: post #344
reader_mode wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a friendly, easy to use chat app with stickers & voice messages (also strong encryption). Except it's not, strong encryption and privacy emphasis goes against easy to use. I recently got my family to switch to Telegram (because I like the interface) - my sister works in an environment where she has to have a separate work phone without a camera and everything synced up out of the box, history, etc. Brother lost his…

> goes against easy to use or just respect reasonable limits? Does it make sense to destroy one feature for the illusion of having both? Elements.io and telegram (to a much lesser extent) are safes. You place something there and it is locked. Signal, whatsapp, et al promise to be safes, but as soon as you place something, a hidden camera scan all the documents and print copies in a hidden printer at your home safe. W…

Matrix is an industrial-strength steel safe. Telegram is one of those transparent plastic safes you can buy for 20€.

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#585

Post by fX0rObfoMN4 »

IshKebab wrote: post #526
flal_ wrote: post #519

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then, you haven't solved the private electronic payment...

Most people don't want private electronic payments. In stable countries like the UK - where this is being launched - it's basically only useful for buying drugs and tax evasion.

You say that like those are bad things.

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#586

Post by fX0rObfoMN4 »

hjek wrote: post #431
akvadrako wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Monero is clearly the most practical secure coin as evidenced by it's popularity on the darknet. But I think what MobileCoin offers is speed.

And way less energy consumption, according to their website.

That is because there is no mining. A proof of stake coin would also use electricity but MobileCoin doesn't even do that.

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#587

Post by ajkdhcb2 »

dspearson wrote: post #530
ajkdhcb2 wrote: post #463

Putting people's privacy in danger with fake privacy coins is a devastating error. Mobilecoin is a scam. The only private cryptocurrency that works is Monero. I now can only believe Signal has sick motives or is a honeypot. Extremely sad since I even convinced my family to use it but now I will turn away.

Not quite true; zcash is best-of-breed and works well. Dead on for this being a devastating error though. I regret advocating Signal, and this destroys Moxie's credibility in my eyes. A shame, because the Signal team did good work to bring strong encrypted communications to the masses. Instead of focusing on fixing usability, stability, and group messaging that scales, they push this in (which nobody asked for) just…

It seems MobileCoin went up over 500% days -before- the announcement... No doubt what is happening here

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#588

Post by fX0rObfoMN4 »

stonesweep wrote: post #189
hiq wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> distributed only in an unsigned insecure form or in a signed/verified manner only if you give up your privacy to install with Google Play or the Apple store. > Those that only run open source software like myself have no secure way to run Signal short of compiling every release by hand which is impractical. Nope: https://signal.org/android/apk/

You may be missing the subtle point - the APK provided is the same one from Google Play, which includes the Google SDK encumbered libraries (links? hooks? features?). If you run a libre device without the Google Play store (non-Google android build) then the software cannot function. The code for the client is open source, but the act of compiling it against the required Play store libraries encumbers the final binar…

I don't think that is true. The build that is distributed through the site has the Play Store "features" disables and has other things like an auto-update mechanic. When built for the website the build config `PLAY_STORE_DISABLED` set to true.

https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/blob/1f578ebd2c1...

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#589

Post by alexvoda »

reader_mode wrote: post #337
sequoia wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Early in Signal's development they would add privacy features. Lately they have been adding social features. This is intentional and relates to Signal's growth in the past few years. It's not "a hacker tool for nerds" it's "a friendly, easy to use chat app with stickers & voice messages (also strong encryption)." IRC does one thing and does it well, and barely anyone uses it. The "clean technical vision" story isn'…

> a friendly, easy to use chat app with stickers & voice messages (also strong encryption). Except it's not, strong encryption and privacy emphasis goes against easy to use. I recently got my family to switch to Telegram (because I like the interface) - my sister works in an environment where she has to have a separate work phone without a camera and everything synced up out of the box, history, etc. Brother lost his…

The lack of portability of WhatsApp between the two mobile OS platforms is infuriating.

Of the three (WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal) I find WhatsApp to be the worst from a UX pov and Telegram the best. Personally, I find this exodus of users from WhatsApp to be a good thing even for no other reason than having to deal less with their UX.

Signal is not much better UX wise, but at least it gives hope of being better because they have to compete and because they are open source. If they fail to bad at growing the project or providing the infrastructure, someone will eventually fork and setup a separate network. WhatsApp has no pressure. It is in Facebooks interest to eventually migrate everyone to FB Messenger.

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#590

Post by M2Ys4U »

sequoia wrote: post #446
reader_mode wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a friendly, easy to use chat app with stickers & voice messages (also strong encryption). Except it's not, strong encryption and privacy emphasis goes against easy to use. I recently got my family to switch to Telegram (because I like the interface) - my sister works in an environment where she has to have a separate work phone without a camera and everything synced up out of the box, history, etc. Brother lost his…

You’re totally correct that there are trade offs. Coming from a background of using IRC, google chat & Facebook chat with and without e2e encryption and deleting accounts etc I’m used to not always having forever message history and I can see how not having that would be a nonstarter for some users. Yes there are sacrifices and trade offs for the security signal offers and it’s not 100% as convenient as Facebook mess…

>You’re totally correct that there are trade offs.

Sadly, Signal's developers don't think trade offs exist

Post reply on HN