Keep your phone number private with Signal usernames
signal.org
Signal’s mission and sole focus is private communication. For years, Signal has kept your messages private, your profile information (like your name and profile photo) private, your contacts private, and your groups private – among much else. Now we’re taking that one step further, by making your...

Finally, we can have usernames in Signal instead of giving our phone number to everybody.

      • Derin@lemmy.beru.co
        0·
        2 years ago

        Been using matrix as my primary communication method (including bridges to other networks for things like Slack and WhatsApp) for over 3 years now, doesn’t feel slow?

          • Derin@lemmy.beru.co
            0·
            2 years ago

            Might need to check your setup. But, I will concede that after 2 years in - a point at which the DB grew into something massive, what with the massive Matrix rooms I was idling in - I started to notice slowdowns. The whole sliding sync proxy thing (with the new generation Element X clients) fixed everything.

            You shouldn’t be having 10-20 second syncs with a new deploy (and limiting the amount of massive rooms your users can join, depending on your hardware), might be something awry relating to your config. If you’re absolutely certain it’s not that, check out the sliding sync proxy until it gets merged into the main spec - it’s great.

              • Derin@lemmy.beru.co
                0·
                2 years ago

                Sorry man, I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve got a pretty medium end VPS on which I host my Matrix instance - only had to add an extension for storage after the first few years when the DB got too big. Things were never as bad as you said early on, and as time passed I absolutely got to the point where it would take 10-20 seconds to sync - but this was after 2 years or so of constant use.

                The reason why it takes long is because of the size of the sync payload - logically, for a new server/user, this really shouldn’t be that big (unless you’re in rooms like Matrix HQ). So, genuinely, look into optimization: postgres, your web server (nginx, apache, caddy), and limiting your users from accessing “problematic” rooms.

                Barring that just deploy the sliding sync proxy and be done with it. It’s not really a problem that requires you to attempt it a thousand times.

                So either you put some fancy wizardry into your system or you’re just in denial.

                It’s called pure Debian, baby. Also, you’ll need a decent chunk of RAM if you don’t have that yet. Avoid a pagefile if you can.

    • Onii-Chan@kbin.social
      1·
      2 years ago

      Is Session actually secure though? I know they’re based in Australia, and as an Aussie myself, holy fuck would I not trust this country for even a fraction of a picosecond with anything private or sensitive. We have some of the world’s most draconian and far-reaching digital privacy and surveillance laws, and I’m not ready to accept that Session hasn’t been secretly compromised by the AFP, given the law against revealing government backdoors.

      Happy to be proven wrong, but I always err on the side of extreme caution when it comes to Australia. Digitally, we’re closer to the CCP than any of our fellow western nations.

  • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
    12·
    2 years ago

    Apparently still requires giving Signal your phone number, so not exactly keeping it private.

    • jawsua@lemmy.one
      1·
      2 years ago

      There’s anonymity and privacy. This keeps you private from other users, and they already keep you private from themselves other than the initial sign up. What this service isn’t, and never has been, is anonymous. They don’t want that and there are big usability issues with an extended anonymous user base. Decide for yourself what you need

  • EveryMuffinIsNowEncrypted@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    9·
    2 years ago

    Too little too late, I’m afraid.

    I would love to use Signal more, but I have it for only 1 friend. No one else I know uses it. And the fact that they don’t support SMS is I imagine a large contributing factor.

    (Yes, I know SMS is inherently insecure & unprivate, but having that support is a good way to get users’ foots in the door, and also what good is a totally secure platform if no one uses it?)