Also beware that the target entry is always people. Any group you don't know extremely well is going to "leak" and so it's best, in general, whenever it involves electronics, to not do things you wouldn't want to be found out doing.
this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2025
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Privacy
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Signal still centrally collects metadata and requires a phone number to participate.
If you're serious about privacy, ESPECIALLY if you're part of a group looking to organize in a clandestine fashion, you should look into the vastly superior SimpleX Chat.
per the article
Signal can't access user metadata. It's not just that Signal promises not to keep logs. They've literally engineered their service to cryptographically prevent themselves from having access to metadata, even if they wanted to. Signal doesn't know what groups you're in, or even what Signal groups exist on the platform. They don't know the names or membership of any Signal group. They can't even access your profile picture or name. All of this is stored on user devices and shared directly from user to user. On the other hand, if WhatsApp gets a data request, Meta will turn over details about everyone in your group, exactly who sends messages to who, and when, because WhatsApp collects all of this.
i switched my family over to signal. i cant do a seitch again xD
Signal is likely fine for a use case like that. Don't feel like you need to switch if you don't have a good reason. Signal is a great balance between stupid-easy useability and E2EE messaging, and people who actually need that extra mile of privacy should know better than to use Signal.
I feel you.
Signal collects your IP address and the last IP address you sent a message to. They store that info to maintain their services. They also store your phone number, either of which can be tied back to your identity (in the US, don't @ me, friends from across the pond).
The only thing these reveal is that you use Signal, which is currently still legal. Also, even if a judge ordered Signal to collect outgoing messages for your user, the content of your messages would already be encrypted. So unless your use of the service could be construed as illegal (or perhaps who you're talking to), then it's probably still safe to use.
However, all that said, I still agree that SimpleX is a better choice for activism. No phone numbers or other useful identifiers, uses a series of nodes rather than a central server, expiring contact-adding codes, etc... it's simply better, if you need privacy against external threats.
And there's no reason you can't have both on your phone for different kinds of groups!
can you show evidence for this?
The best choice for activism right now is signal and has been for years. The best choice isn't necessarily the most hardened app or messaging system, it's the most hardened balanced against ease of use and access, along with features.
Usability of Simplex is very similar to Signal.
Evidence for what?
They dropped the phone number requirement a while ago
Yeah I thought they had too, but it's the case that for a new account you still have to have a phone #. You can then use a chosen account for everything else.
No, you still need a phone number to sign up. You can now optionally have a username as well, but a phone number remains a hard requirement.