Re: Is Telegram or Signal acceptable for harm reduction?

[Paul Sutton via libreplanet-discuss <libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org>]

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On 05/08/2021 00:30, Jorge P. de Morais Neto via libreplanet-discuss wrote:
> Hi.  Sometime ago I submit to a proprietary instant messenger for a work
> chat room.  I want to get rid of it ASAP.
> 
> As I had it installed and active on my smartphone (for the work room), I
> ended up joining three other chat rooms about civil service public
> exams.  These three are big, so I have no hope of convincing everyone to
> switch to an ethical network.  I then intend to join these rooms from my
> wife’s account, on her smartphone, which I would consult weekly for new
> chat messages¹.  The other room (the work one) has only seven members
> (including me), so I hope to convince them to switch to a better
> platform.  If they don’t want to switch, then I’ll ask them to forward
> me the rare important messages via an ethical technology like SMS or
> e-mail.
> 
> Now, what if my six work colleagues accept switching to another chat
> network but refuse both XMPP and Matrix because "no one uses that",
> accepting only Telegram or Signal?  I do currently have Telegram and
> Signal accounts, but I worry about their ethics.

I can't comment on Telegram

In terms of the "no one uses that" argument.  I believe the main comms 
channel for FOSDEM 2021 was Matrix,  If we can get figures on that, we 
can do the same for other large online events and help to counter argue 
that statement.

If there is just a small group, does it matter if no one else uses it? 
As long as all members of your small group use it.

"No one uses it" is becoming more and more of an outdated excuse.  Not 
your fault but good examples + figures (seems obligatory in the business 
world) would help counter.

What about using Jitsi for meetings,  you can use video or voice chat or 
is this a messaging application.

Going back to no one uses it,  isn't XMPP the same protocol that 
WhatsApp uses?  Again Jitsi has been used for big conferences such as 
LibrePlanet, EmacsConf and others.

Paul


> 
> Telegram /does/ have free clients on GNU Guix and PureOS repositories,
> which is great, but it is a centralized network, the server code is
> hidden, and it doesn’t even have end-to-end encryption!  So is it a real
> improvement over the fully proprietary---but allegedly end-to-end
> encrypted---status quo?
> 
> What about Signal?  Compared to Telegram, it has the big advantage of
> end-to-end encryption, but the disadvantage of obstructing the
> distribution of modified versions of its client; it is not even
> available on F-Droid, Guix or Debian (let alone PureOS).
> 
> So, should I insist on a really ethical network---XMPP or maybe
> Matrix---despite the big likelihood that they will refuse, or should I
> swallow Telegram or Signal?
> 
> Regards
> 
> ¹ You may wonder what is the point of refusing to use the proprietary
> application on my smartphone, but still using it on my wife’s
> smartphone.  It is clearly still not ideal, but it does have significant
> advantages:
> 
> 1. I would not be discoverable in the network, so people who want to
>     reach me (outside those three remaining rooms) would send an email or
>     SMS instead.
> 2. I would be able to delete my account, thus reducing the unethical
>     network’s market value.
> 3. The surveillance AI would be confused with two people using the same
>     account.
> 4. I would be less tempted to join other rooms in the unethical network.
> 
> Regards
> 

-- 
--
Paul Sutton, Cert Cont Sci (Open)
https://personaljournal.ca/paulsutton/
Pronoun : him/his/he
OpenPGP : 4350 91C4 C8FB 681B 23A6 7944 8EA9 1B51 E27E 3D99

21st Debian Conference August 22 to August 29, 2021.
DebCamp from August 15 to August 21, 2021

https://debconf21.debconf.org/


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