Avatar
Islamic Audiobooks Central
51013526828bac6a18e07b94a0b4f3c3d337c9604fb5cd7bc9b3f444afbc96e1
Audiobook publisher and distributor. Find our books on Google Play (DRM-free), Apple Books, Spotify and Audible as well as in public libraries, our website and our YouTube and Odysee channels. We love and use #Linux and #OpenSource / #FreeSoftware for professional audio production! Looking in from the Fediverse? You're seeing a #Nostr profile via a bridge. Full profile at: https://primal.net/p/npub12yqn2f5z3wkx5x8q0w22pd8nc0fn0jtqf76u677fk06yftaujmsscfkjum XMR: 87T3MhEThNNDmGxRrPPUvW76upi4RzeAq2nVYErCgeJKdssoWiQWttegvCkzFvxCZBCXFzAjfrCBXF88rebjfFqP2F1pYty

Privacy Ranked:

I’m going to rank these least private to most, and explain why on each step.

Discord

Why: Discord is as bad as it gets. It's not only completely unencrypted, but they maliciously sell your data and have such huge restrictions on VPN IPs and SMS VoIP verification.

SMS

Why: It’s going naked over the phone lines, but isn't heavily sold in such a rotten way as Discord.

VoIP

Why: VoIP is just as horrible as SMS, but separates your real physical location from the cell tower

Telegram

Why: Unlike VoIP, it does have end-to-end encryption, but only on mobile. And with weak encryption that they made up, that hasn’t been properly reviewed [Source: Madaidans of Whonix]

Signal

Why: Telegram has no metadata protection, while as Signal has sealed sender. Signal’s encryption is stronger and more thoroughly peer reviewed. Also Signal has a good legal track record and isn’t strict on crypto VoIP burners like Telegram. Having phone numbers isn't that big a deal if I paid $1 of crypto for a random VoIP burner in Cambodia without restrictions on Tor. Btw, my Signal # is Cambodian: +855 68 504 905

Matrix

Why: Tucker Carlson’s Signal was hacked. Also, academic papers have shown Signal’s sealed sender has flaws. If you self-host Matrix, that's much more control than trusting Amazon's AWS, which is a CIA contractor. Many open source projects use Matrix rooms.

Session

Why: Most Matrix users use Matrix.org which is Cloudflare with Gmail verifying the emails. Setting up a Matrix server is more expensive and complex than just opening Session and hitting "create account". Session’s onion routing, non-location based DNS, and decentralization is stronger than Matrix's Cloudflare-dominated network.

SimpleX

Why: Session lacks (by default) rotating keys and multiple identities. You can manually rotate keys using your blockchain name, and manually get multiple accounts at once via enabling it on Linux, but most won’t want to do this just to avoid government domain names (which most SimpleX users use). Session is better for censorship of servers, SimpleX is better for end users being invisible.

Self-hosted Tor XMPP

Why: SimpleX is hiding from servers, but if you control the server, that’s stronger. Even a self-hosted SimpleX server only picks half the conversation. Also, XMPP has a longer proven track record, which is more eyes on the code. Now if you DON'T self-host XMPP, it's way up on the list next to Matrix.

Self-hosted Tor XMPP w/ OTR

Why: OTR nukes the conversation when it’s done. It literally destroys the encryption keys. Game over bro.

Conclusion:

Anything is better than Discord. Now, let's play a game, pick a communication method I did not mention, and you tell me where you think it should rank on the list. Then, we'll discuss.

How would #Jami and #DeltaChat rank?

Privacy Ranked:

I’m going to rank these least private to most, and explain why on each step.

Discord

Why: Discord is as bad as it gets. It's not only completely unencrypted, but they maliciously sell your data and have such huge restrictions on VPN IPs and SMS VoIP verification.

SMS

Why: It’s going naked over the phone lines, but isn't heavily sold in such a rotten way as Discord.

VoIP

Why: VoIP is just as horrible as SMS, but separates your real physical location from the cell tower

Telegram

Why: Unlike VoIP, it does have end-to-end encryption, but only on mobile. And with weak encryption that they made up, that hasn’t been properly reviewed [Source: Madaidans of Whonix]

Signal

Why: Telegram has no metadata protection, while as Signal has sealed sender. Signal’s encryption is stronger and more thoroughly peer reviewed. Also Signal has a good legal track record and isn’t strict on crypto VoIP burners like Telegram. Having phone numbers isn't that big a deal if I paid $1 of crypto for a random VoIP burner in Cambodia without restrictions on Tor. Btw, my Signal # is Cambodian: +855 68 504 905

Matrix

Why: Tucker Carlson’s Signal was hacked. Also, academic papers have shown Signal’s sealed sender has flaws. If you self-host Matrix, that's much more control than trusting Amazon's AWS, which is a CIA contractor. Many open source projects use Matrix rooms.

Session

Why: Most Matrix users use Matrix.org which is Cloudflare with Gmail verifying the emails. Setting up a Matrix server is more expensive and complex than just opening Session and hitting "create account". Session’s onion routing, non-location based DNS, and decentralization is stronger than Matrix's Cloudflare-dominated network.

SimpleX

Why: Session lacks (by default) rotating keys and multiple identities. You can manually rotate keys using your blockchain name, and manually get multiple accounts at once via enabling it on Linux, but most won’t want to do this just to avoid government domain names (which most SimpleX users use). Session is better for censorship of servers, SimpleX is better for end users being invisible.

Self-hosted Tor XMPP

Why: SimpleX is hiding from servers, but if you control the server, that’s stronger. Even a self-hosted SimpleX server only picks half the conversation. Also, XMPP has a longer proven track record, which is more eyes on the code. Now if you DON'T self-host XMPP, it's way up on the list next to Matrix.

Self-hosted Tor XMPP w/ OTR

Why: OTR nukes the conversation when it’s done. It literally destroys the encryption keys. Game over bro.

Conclusion:

Anything is better than Discord. Now, let's play a game, pick a communication method I did not mention, and you tell me where you think it should rank on the list. Then, we'll discuss.

If you try out, let me know. I think I have a referral for Filen somewhere that will give you 10 GB extra if I remember correctly.

#LadybirdBrowser becomes a non-profit with $1 Million backing

Unlike traditional business models that rely on #monetizing the user, #Ladybird is funded entirely by sponsorships and donations from companies and individuals who care about the #openweb. Our non-profit will not pursue corporate deals or revenue outside of unrestricted donations. The #software and its source code will be available for free, forever...

...Our non-profit will not pursue corporate deals or revenue outside of unrestricted donations...

Unlike the major players, we're *completely* focused on one thing only: the #webbrowser...

https://lunduke.locals.com/post/5812560/ladybird-web-browser-becomes-a-non-profit-with-1-million-from-github-founder

Replying to Avatar alp

I meant everything that can taint coins due to traceability...

For the second question, I meant how would someone protect themselves from unjust arrest, imprisonment and legal action if they happen to send money to some individual or group a government does not like... the Palestinian resistance being one relevant example as they are labelled as terrorists by certain regimes.

Bitcoin appears to be great unless you spend it on something the government is not okay with. It appears to worse than fiat cash and even worse than bank transfer for such use cases.

Not sure if it's a nostr client but #Rebelnet space/instance of #DegenRocket forum has it.

https://github.com/degenrocket/degenrocket

It looks great but why pay for photo backup only when #Filen and #Internxt give you full #e2ee backup and sync including photos, documents and other files? Not sure if their server code is #foss though.

Odysee and Rumble are both great although Odysee is much better, supports RSS feeds and is partly open source. Our channel is synced to both.

#Telegram indeed is horrible for #privacy as a messenger. However, much of it's popularity could be due to it's other use: as an easy to manage, mobile-friendly public forum with free hosting or a social media channel.

Organisations that are on government blacklists and are unjustly banned from #BigTech social media have a thriving presence on Telegram as long as the app is the website version, not from Google or Apple stores.

So unless Telegram starts banning them from their non-appstore versions, people will most probably not look for better alternatives...

However, they might consider switching if alternative apps are able to do what Telegram does but even better.

Not endorsing any of this of course, just observations.

You're already following those that I wanted to recommend so I suggest following relevant hashtags...

#cybersecurity #security #infosec #zeroday #malware #vulnerability #vulnerabilities #foss #opensource #linux #aosp #android etc.