Sheesh, the US is sure getting scary. Well, it's a good thing it would be impossible to trace Signal to someone via metadata like a phone number, right?
2026-03-20 12:29 UTC
Replies (19)
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@Kirk@startrek.website 2026-03-20 13:16
This is total alarmist misinformation. The "evidence of terrorism" was not "using Signal" or "carrying a first aid kit", it was taking part in an armed assault on an immigration facility where a dozen people set off fireworks and shot a police officer with an AR-15. The prosecution used the *presence* of the first aid kit they carried during their armed assault, along with *actual messages* (not metadata) from a Signal chat to make the case that the attackers planned on using violence. There are a lot of problems with this case, IMO the most dangerous part here is that adds legitimacy the (false) idea that "antifa" is an organization that exists. Something the Trump administration has been struggling to prove. This X post takes small details out of context. 1. Don't trust anything *ever* posted to X. *Especially* something that discourages the use of private messaging apps. 2. I highly recommend everyone report this this post to your admins and strongly recommend all instance admins ban/warn accounts like OP. If we want the fediverse to catch on it needs to be more factual, not knee jer.
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@yogthos@lemmy.ml 2026-03-20 15:53
A reminder that your phone number is metadata. And people who think metadata is "just" data or that cross-referencing is some kind of sci-fi nonsense, are fundamentally misunderstanding how modern surveillance works. By requiring phone numbers, Signal, despite its good encryption, inherently builds a social graph. The server operators, or anyone who gets that data, can see a map of who is talking to whom. The content is secure, but the connections are not. Being able to map out who talks to whom is incredibly valuable. A three-letter agency can take the map of connections and overlay it with all the other data they vacuum up from other sources, such as location data, purchase histories, social media activity. If you become a "person of interest" for any reason, they instantly have your entire social circle mapped out. Worse, the act of seeking out encrypted communication is itself a red flag. It's a perfect filter: "Show me everyone paranoid enough to use crypto." You're basically raising your hand. So, in a twisted way, Signal being a tool for private conversations, makes it a perfect machine for mapping associations and identifying targets. The fact that it operates using a centralized server located in the US should worry people far more than it seems to. The kicker is that thanks to gag orders, companies are [legally forbidden](https://archive.ph/H2vcU) from telling you if the feds come knocking for this data. So even if Signal's intentions are pure, we'd never know how the data it collects is being used. The potential for abuse is baked right into the phone-number requirement.
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@akilou@sh.itjust.works 2026-03-20 13:12
We're supposed to take privacy advice from someone posting on X?
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@theherk@lemmy.world 2026-03-20 13:14
More anti-signal propaganda? Who is claiming it can’t be associated to a user. The messages are private, not anonymous.
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@minorkeys@lemmy.world 2026-03-21 05:09
Privacy is proof of terrorism. The state, and it's corporate allies, need to have access to your innermost thoughts, the things about you even you don't know, for national security reasons. This is totally normal and not something to resist. Vote republican.
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@floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-03-20 20:20
I really don't get the big "use signal" push at this point in time because even if it's private and the encryption is solid, it's a fucking American company. It's so easy for letter agencies to get information on their users from them, don't you realize that they can't refuse to give out your number if they ask for it and that once they have that your identity and location are immediately and thoroughly compromised? If you are subject to US jurisdiction and could be seen in any way as opposing its government, I really don't think you should be using it.
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@Lussy@hexbear.net 2026-03-20 17:03
>worn black to a protest >used Signal >carried a first aid kit lol  The laws are made up and we’ve always been fucked. We always knew that
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@hamid@crazypeople.online 2026-03-21 03:05
Non whites know they make up shit all the time to put people in prison, nothing new here for the shit hole country
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@Natanael@slrpnk.net 2026-03-20 13:03
What evidence do you have that Signal collects anything? Traffic logs from the app or something?
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@RosaLuxemburgsGhost@lemmy.ml 2026-03-21 13:10
The Prairieland case was an important case for the capitalist state of US Imperialism. It was a litmus test, a threat, to all people who dare criticize and challenge its rule within the belly of the beast. Just like the Iran war, which is about control over the region, and beating back any neo-colonial governments who don’t fall in line with the wishes of US Imperialism….this is the US government waging similar class war at home.
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@Ildsaye@hexbear.net 2026-03-20 20:48
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@WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 2026-03-22 08:37
Helping an old grandma up, is cause enough for execution by ICE on the spot.
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@minorkeys@lemmy.world 2026-03-21 05:10
The places tyrants can't see into is where the threats come from.
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@Jankatarch@lemmy.world 2026-03-21 02:08
They will come for all colors one by one until disliking the government is illegal.
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@Evotech@lemmy.world 2026-03-21 18:09
Everyone should just wear all blue or some other colour
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@davel@lemmy.ml 2026-03-20 19:59
Some people are very protective of Signal. - Reason: Disinformation - Reason: privacy rule #3: "Try to keep things on topic" - Reason: Misinfo, alarmism - Reason: This is harmful disinformation [Why not Signal?](https://dessalines.github.io/essays/why_not_signal.html)
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@gnuthing@lemmygrad.ml 2026-03-20 20:12
> In custody, your phone will be hacked when it is taken away if it's important. Unless I turned off the USB port...
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@TyrionBean@lemmy.ml 2026-03-20 16:34
One reason to use Matrix on your own server.
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@eager_eagle@lemmy.world 2026-03-20 16:53
It's true, I was the bowling pin