Even State Department-funded Human Rights Watch admits that authorities combine legal and illegal methods to obtain convictions: https://text.hrw.org/report/2018/01/09/dark-side/secret-origins-evidence-us-criminal-cases
Combining dragnet surveillance with device hacking is intended in the design of both tools. Hence, State Department-funded Signal dupes you into handing over your identity as part of the population-centric mapping. In custody, your phone will be hacked when it is taken away if it’s important.
https://xcancel.com/hannahcrileyy/status/2034273723667161480#m
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.
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Don’t trust anything ever posted to X. Especially something that discourages the use of private messaging apps.
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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.
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.
based
Whoever they think did it They didn’t do it we were bowling together at that time
It’s true, I was the bowling pin
The prosecution used the presence of the first aid kit they carried
Insane bullshit.
I have a kit with me every day of my life, and I’ve had to refill it many times due to using it on others.
It would be pure coincidence that I happen to be carrying a first aid kit on any given day, and if I’m going to a peaceful protest I’m bringing my trauma kit because the entire fucking world knows how cops treat protesters.
I agree that bringing a first aid kit to a peaceful protest is not evidence that someone is planning violence.
I disagree that bringing a first aid kit along with explosives and assault weapons to a planned confrontation is evidence someone was attending a peaceful protest.
You completely dodged the actual question. Is a first aid kit evidence of planned terrorism?
I’m saying by focusing on the irrelevant first aid kit you are playing into the hands of those who seek to discourage the use of private messaging apps.
I agree. You are the one that made specific comments about what carrying a first aid kit means for evidence that are completely irrelevant to the trial.
you agree it’s a distraction but continue to bring it up 🤔
At this point you’re just trolling 🙄
Depends on context. Is a fire extinguisher evidence of planned arson? Depends, was it just sitting there on its own or was it found next to a pile of fire accelerant, a box of matches, the blueprints to the nearby currently burning building, and a piece of paper with “Arson Plan” written on the top and “don’t forget fire extinguisher, just in case!” scrawled on the side? Obviously this is hyperbole, but I think my point is equally obvious.
I don’t think it was a question, really
If you were ever in such a situation, I’m sure your lawyer would present the fact that you always have a first aid kit with you to challenge it’s relevance. People who know you could be brought in to testify as such.
On the other hand, if you don’t generally carry a first aid kit but brought one to the protest alongside the other listed items, it does seem indicative of intent.
There was just a news story that Denmark was (among other activities) stocking up on blood supplies in Greenland. That’s not an unusual thing for a military to do, but it’s pretty obvious that they were preparing to fight US forces. That’s obviously not a crime, but the logical connections to intent are similar.
Thank you for this.
Thing is that there are actual privacy respecting messaging apps like SimpleX Chat. Signal isn’t one of them. It’s run by people associated with US intelligence, it’s hosted on a single server based in the US, and it actively harvests phone numbers. It’s incredible that people look at this and still claim it’s a private messaging app.
along with actual messages (not metadata) from a Signal chat to make the case that the attackers planned on using violence
How did they get the actual messages? Signal chats and groups are supposed to be encrypted. I’m curious.
IDK why it is alarmist misinformation to point out that the people doing this have the strongest spyware/phone cracking tools in the world, information about who owns phone numbers, access to AWS (a US military contractor currently being affected by a not insignificant missile-induced service outages), access to Firebase and Apple Websocket (latter has poor encryption and I have heard the former is also insecure), and the ability to physically bring you into custody, then lie about how they got all of these elements together in whatever order to get you behind bars. But of course the idea of actually doing something about the gestapo in your country just fills you with indignation apparently.
X is actually the only place that you can still hear from a lot of people, like Julie K Brown a Miami Herald journalist writing about Jeffrey Epstein’s associates and their victims, thousands of foreign journalists. That probably isn’t important to you since it isn’t about Star Trek and toys. I get all of the posts through a server called RSSHub combined with numerous other websites (like this one), which are piped directly into an actually secure messaging service. I encourage any admins to get my posts hidden from their entire instance. Don’t let your users come into my mentions! I wish that blocking instances actually WORKED. 💀
It’s alarmist to say that a jury decided using Signal is evidence of terrorism
Do you think they won’t do the same to my favorite apps?
CIA-funded outlet The Intercept here points out the CIA considers Signal software for terrorists and later recommended “highly-targeted individuals” use it (these are both endorsements to different audiences). Since e2ee software is viewed as a threat, how should we take the US govt singling out Signal for endorsement like this? Is the CIA being nice and helpful? https://web.archive.org/theintercept.com/2025/03/25/signal-chat-encryption-hegseth-cia/
The jury didn’t say using Signal was evidence of terrorist activity, though. That’s why it’s alarmist to say the jury said that - because they didn’t. At least, not to my knowledge?
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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 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.
In theory warrant canaries could have been used, but Marlinspike has an excuse for everything.
yeah that makes the whole thing even more sketch, I love how he never replies to the EFF link too
We’re supposed to take privacy advice from someone posting on X?
Surprised that they didn’t link straight to Telegram.
- How does it feel to be on my nuts? 2. I get Telegram channels through RSS and let you work out the rest. I will if I want to.
Were you to be so lucky.
Lol this looks like the regular X app to you does it?
The domain of the person’s handle is literally “x.com”
More anti-signal propaganda? Who is claiming it can’t be associated to a user. The messages are private, not anonymous.
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.
deleted by creator
We know it’s an op, RFA does damage control for signal:
Libby Liu, president of Radio Free Asia stated:
Our primary interest is to make sure the extended OTF network and the Internet Freedom community are not spooked by the [Yasha Levine’s critical] article (no pun intended). Fortunately all the major players in the community are together in Valencia this week - and report out from there indicates they remain comfortable with OTF/RFA.
Because its one of the only popular secure methods of communication thats app based.
It’s not a company it’s a nonprofit foundation. And they’ve been audited many times by independent auditors.
Sorry but both points are irrelevant, nonprofit foundations can still be forced to turn over user information. That is part of following the law so nothing that would need to be hidden to auditors, unless you were talking about encryption audits which is completely besides the point
What data is there for Signal to turn over? Can you prove that they’re keeping messages or logs on their servers that have ‘disappeared’ from all the associated devices?
Your entire social network graphs, and timestamped message history.
No one can “prove” signal doesn’t store everything. If you give me ssh access to their server, then I can verify. Otherwise it’s “just trust me bro”.
If you give me ssh access to their server, then I can verify. Otherwise it’s “just trust me bro”.
What do you think an independent autit does?
the irrededeemable fact that you are using it, which matters because the government now just targets all the signal users. they can’t read your messages, so they are applying guilt by association.
Because the other options most people are aware of are by and large even worse? Would you prefer people were sending this shit over Facebook messenger?
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.
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.
In custody, your phone will be hacked when it is taken away if it’s important.
Unless I turned off the USB port…
I wouldn’t bet my life on GrapheneOS in person despite being a fan of the project due to wanting to treat my phone as a computer
*actually forgot to mention they charged the duress password guy with destruction of evidence this isn’t speculative at all lmao
personally, my bet is that they don’t have anyone qualified enough to pull off an exploit like that (on me).
the problem with my bet: what we’ve seen is that they won’t care, and accuse individuals of terrorism based off the color of their clothes.
I just refuse to believe Google doesn’t have some kind of hardware backdoor, or that Motorola won’t once that is up and running.
hardware vulnerabilities undoubtedly exist, whether intentional or not. its simply the nature of designing these complex semiconductors.
that said, if one company intentionally creates a backdoor, won’t they all? what phone do you buy at that point?
any startup or small phone company may not have intentional backdoors, but I can guarantee their hardware security on all other levels pales to what apple and google can accomplish. I think the question then becomes are you more worried about google having a backdoor, or about third party compromises?
im not a fan of our choices, there is no silver bullet.
Yeah tails does have graphene beat, but a lot of folks see a phone as a necessity. Graphene is best if you’re gonna have a phone. It can turn off the USB port where it can’t even be charged without being off. It can reboot itself if not unlocked frequently enough, putting the phone back into a BFU state.
Now it’s possible that there’s some exploit a state knows that is not public, but the software they generally use does not work on graphene as long as you are not running a pre-2022 version of graphene. Someone else mentioned rubber-hose cryptanalysis, but like if I’m getting beat for my unlock, then what do I care about getting charged with destruction of evidence?
They will come for all colors one by one until disliking the government is illegal.
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
The places tyrants can’t see into is where the threats come from.
Everyone should just wear all blue or some other colour
One reason to use Matrix on your own server.
