I saw some threads here about Telegram and piracy stuff being banned. So, as an experimental alternative, I created a public Signal group for piracy.
Maybe it’ll be useful?
Before joining
Signal supports usernames and hiding telephone numbers. Here’s a blog entry on how to do so. You might want to:
- set a username
- change your profile name (these are two separate things!)
- hide your phone number
What is even the point of “piracy groups”? What exactly can you find there that you cannot in other places designed for that, e.g., trackers, usenet, forums…?
You might try a Matrix group instead. Doesn’t require a phone number and supports more than 1000 users unlike Signal. Search is bad though unfortunately.
Signal no longer require a phone number.
It still requires a phone number to sign up, but you don’t need to share it to chat with someone
Some suggest matrix, others simplex. Not sure which one would be better honestly
Tracker Control is blocking me from joining. Weird that Molly (its a hardened signal fork) is showing amazon is being contacted when trying to join the group.
I can unblock it but its weird. I also noticed the other domains its been trying to (unsuccessfully) contact.
Signal uses AWS.
Only for groups? Why thing else has worked fine for the 9months I’ve had signal.
I think signal servers may be using aws hosting.
Signal uses Amazon’s servers, look it up. It’s all encrypted of course.
SimpleX all the way
Is there a simplex group we can join?
Right
Good idea overall, unfortunately they still have your IP and phone number which means Europeans are still implicated
Signal doesn’t collect IPs and therefore can’t even hand them out. It’s been requested in 2021. Here’s a list of requests from authorities they were allowed to publish. I’ve looked through 3 of the most recent and nowhere do they reveal IPs.
Sure they don’t log the IPs, but it is technically impossible to not know the IP when you’re running a centralized service.
IIRC, because of sealed sender, they can’t know who you’re communicating with, only that you’re using Signal at all.
I wrote a comment here about why sealed sender does not achieve what it purports to.
I didn’t know that. Thanks
What are the “popular” alternatives? Telegram stores everything, WhatsApp doesn’t allow usernames, Matrix requires IPs too…
SimpleX
Despite their claims of total privacy, I imagine, like any software company, they have full access to their own back end including encryption keys and server logs. Meaning they can and probably will moderate their own platform if there is enough pressure from nation states/IP owners.
You are welcome to audit the source code and host the backend yourself.
You understand that, for everyone except for a complete network pro, that is worse for security and privacy, right?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that you can.
But the reason piracy websites struggle so much with long term stability isn’t because they’re hosting the wrong software.
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TBH I would just use email over TOR and encrypt communication with PGP. Rotate identities every now and then and you should be fine. Yes it doesn’t have forward secrecy but it removes the effort to find the “right messaging” service and is instead ubiquitous (and you can sign up for anonymous email addresses online too, which makes it even better).
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The phone number is not connected to the messages. That’s the only thing they have. It is the best app for privacy.
Arguable in it being “the best app for privacy”. Can you link to a source which shows that phone numbers are not linked to accounts? (Why do they need them anyway?)
They have published requests from the law enforcement and their responses to these requests. The only unencrypted data they have is the phone number, a date of sign up and a date of the last login. That is it, everything else is encrypted and they cannot access it whatsoever.
The problem is, if you’re in Europe, your phone number is associated with your identity
No you don’t.
I can go to the corner shop/local garage right now, buy a SIM card for 99p and then buy a top-up voucher in cash to have a completely anonymous phone number.
Albeit is the UK in Europe again? 🙈
edit: where I would be worried if my privacy was on the line is I could also go to the local pawn shop / Cash Converters to ensure that SIM card isn’t associated with an IMEI I’ve previously used and buy in cash a cheapo phone.
The last time I bought a SIM in the UK I was told specifically I could not buy it with cash.
But, again, all they can prove is that you signed up to Signal and when you last signed in.
I believe the same is true in the US.
It is not. You do not show any ID to get a phone number
You also don’t need to show any ID for a business to meet “know-your-customer” regulations. Can you get a phone number without revealing your identity?
Will a simplex group better? Nothing identifiable.
Make it and share it. I don’t have simplex.
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Feel free to make a post about it. Very few will see it here otherwise :)
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The problem is Signal supports up to 1000 people group chat, so it’s better to find something different
I can barely handle chat groups with 100 ppl.
Matrix?
How big were the telegram chat rooms? Did they ever get that big? The only chatroom I’ve seen with over 1k people is on matrix and it was relatively quiet. If there’s a 1k limit, probably the admin will have to kick inactive users.
Way bigger. You could have many thousands.
What the fuck? I’ve never seen a chatroom that big. Must be absolute chaos…
Or are those “just” distribution channels aka admin only posts?
Thoose given are distrubution channels, but there are group chats like t.me/durovschat which is 12k members. I forgot the limits which i think is 200k for chatroom and infinite(?) for distrubution channels
Edit: yeah its 200k and infinite in “broadcast groups”
Definitely just “distribution”
Sounds like a place for toots 🤔 Signal supports admin only chat rooms. Maybe they’ll be able to support >1k in the future. Dunno if MLS will be able to do that.
Toots?..
Mastodon i guess.
Epic
