> As for Signal it’s at least open source, but there’s no way to check that the client I’m using, or my friend is using, actually matches that source code.
This is… not true? Signal builds are reproducible. You can verify that the apk in the app store corresponds to a specific point in git history, and if you don't trust Google you can sideload that.
> Even if there was it’s irrelevant. Centralized infrastructure can claim to provide privacy but can never provide control: they can openly alter the deal at any time and I’d be forced to continue using it, if I couldn’t get my friends to switch to something else.
If you're using Signal because of the E2E properties, and Signal unilaterally changes its behaviour, you are absolutely not forced to continue using it. If you do wish to continue communicating with people who are using Signal, you're still able to reappraise what you feel comfortable saying now you know that the behaviour has changed.
The claim that "Signal encryption doesn’t actually work" just seems inaccurate. We can verify that Signal has the properties it claims it has. "Signal encryption could stop working" would be true - the client could absolutely just choose to start sending everything in plaintext, but we're not relying on a centralised group to make that claim! Anyone can look at the commits to Signal and flag that the claimed properties no longer apply.
This is… not true? Signal builds are reproducible. You can verify that the apk in the app store corresponds to a specific point in git history, and if you don't trust Google you can sideload that.
> Even if there was it’s irrelevant. Centralized infrastructure can claim to provide privacy but can never provide control: they can openly alter the deal at any time and I’d be forced to continue using it, if I couldn’t get my friends to switch to something else.
If you're using Signal because of the E2E properties, and Signal unilaterally changes its behaviour, you are absolutely not forced to continue using it. If you do wish to continue communicating with people who are using Signal, you're still able to reappraise what you feel comfortable saying now you know that the behaviour has changed.
The claim that "Signal encryption doesn’t actually work" just seems inaccurate. We can verify that Signal has the properties it claims it has. "Signal encryption could stop working" would be true - the client could absolutely just choose to start sending everything in plaintext, but we're not relying on a centralised group to make that claim! Anyone can look at the commits to Signal and flag that the claimed properties no longer apply.