Phone calls and SMS privacy are now possible with Signal. What is ‘Signal‘? “Signal has been designed for the mobile environment from the ground up. Messages and incoming calls are fully asynchronous; push notifications to let you know when new messages have arrived, so they’ll be waiting for you if the app is in the background, your battery dies, or you temporarily lose service.” – WhisperSystems
It is believed that the Government of Mauritius and other government entities around the world have been tapping into phone lines since a while and some years back this issue has also been revealed on Mauritian newspapers. So, how do you get away from these entities trying to peak their noes into your private life? The ultimate answer is “Signal” which has been developed by the Open Whisper Systems Team.
“Use anything by Open Whisper Systems” – Edward Snowden, whistleblower, and privacy advocate
“I am regularly impressed with the thought and care put into both the security and the usability of this app. It’s my first choice for an encrypted conversation.” – Bruce Schneier, internationally renowned security technologist.
The signal is freely available and compatible for almost all Android devices as well as Apple mobile phones. It supports SMS and voice calls encryption even if you are on a 3G/4G network. However, you need to assure yourself that all parties engaged in a conversation are using Signal to be secure on all sides.
You cannot assure yourself to be secure if encrypted communication is one-sided.
My next article is going to be dedicated to the cyberstorm.mu team of Mauritius.
Hi Nitin,
I would like to point out that to recommand Signal, you also entice people to rely on Google services.
For my personal example, each new Android phone I got, I wipe it completely to install the latest CyanogenMod ROM without the gapps. That means the batterie life is far more better than android stock ROM because my phone is not constantely talking to Google servers.
I was eager to try Signal, but when I installed the apk, I found out that Signal could NOT run because I had no google account on my phone. This was the end of Signal for me.
I still don’t understand why Edward Snowden and Bruce Schneier recommand Signal when it completely depends on Google Play Services Framework, maybe because masses are using Android anyway! All the metadatas of calls and texts are passing through WhisperSystems and Google servers, do we agree on this?
But for all those who want to escape mass surveillance and not depend on Google, there are other alternatives and Signal is not one of them.
If it’s just to sent SMS, SMSsecure is a great fork of TextSecure not relying on Google. It is FOSS and on F-Droid.
https://smssecure.org/
https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=SMSSecure&fdid=org.smssecure.smssecure
I am open for discussion to get your opinion on this matter, but if you are in a position of recommanding something, you could as well explain the drawback. For me as a Linux enthousiast, only Free and Open Source Software should be recommanded like on prism-break.org
The ethical way of apps should be taking into account each time we are using them.
– Is the app made in an ethical way to respect my privacy?
– Does it rely on proprietary services?
For more info about the situation with Signal and why WhisperSystems won’t change there behaviour, you can read discussion here.
What’s with TextSecure?
https://github.com/nylira/prism-break/issues/1314
Request: Google Play signed download alternative
https://github.com/WhisperSystems/Signal-Android/issues/127
Why do I need Google Play installed to use Signal? How can I get Signal APK?
http://support.whispersystems.org/hc/en-us/articles/213190817-Why-do-I-need-Google-Play-installed-to-use-Signal-
Signal is the one of the most powerful app to send msgs’…if A send a msg to B..as soon as it leaves for its destination.. a complex mathematical encryption begins,,that will take 4 or 5 years to be decrypted. YES ..4 or 5 yrs..even the NSA has criticized Signal designers coz its seems terrorists are making max use of this app..it can be only be decrypted only when it reaches it destination…Signal = privacy..i fully agree with this statement !!..Signal app designers who were criticized..but they fought back stating that ” syringes are used to inject medicines to cure illness..if some drug addicts are using it too..what do we do ? must syringes be banned? “..lol….
if not for signal..terrorists have a better way to communicate..by using email..but NOT sending the email..YES…communication via mail but NOT SENDING the mail…they are exploiting the loophole available in the system…for e.g gmail
2 terrorists are planning something terrible..
1. create an email add…
2. share the email add n pwrd
3. they move to different remote areas
4. wait for instructions
instructions will come by mail..but how….receiving it without sending ?
remember ..all emails are scanned by NSA, i dont know who else,,,
but wait…if i wrote something ,,,but didnt send it…where will it go ?
TO THE DRAFT !!!!
thats it…..if 2 or more persons have the same email add n pwrd..they’ll communicate by drafts..the email is not sent..but still,,those who have the email add n pwrd will read the msg and reply back the same way …that is by drafts….n no security agencies will ever capture any information about there operation.
Signal is providing privacy for once..thats good !!!
Signal is open source n Security agencies must be hitting their heads hard looking for a backdoor…but wait it would be the same as creating the most powerful door lock and keep the key under the mat..
cheersss !!!!