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Comment by purpleidea | Hacker News Reader

Signal refuses to answer: Why won't they release/open source all of their backend infra automation scripts/tools/etc...

There's no reasonable reason why a 501(c)(3) won't put this out there to make sure there's redundancy so we could built an alternate network if they're compromised by some gag order.

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Probably because its leadership seems to have been taken over by more politically and less technically inclined people (for better and/or worse) who don't understand why it matters.

The trade is we get (hopefully) people very dedicated to keeping the org developing the stuff alive and well-funded, and gaining mainstream acceptance/attention.

Signal did such things always. They delayed years to clarify licensing to allow iOS forks. And hid server source code for a year to hide MobileCoin integration.

Is Signal compromised?

Yes, but it's still better than WhatsApp if those are your options.

Signal just can't be trusted at this point. They're probably compromised. My theory is that that's why the very first line of their privacy is a lie saying that it's designed to never collect or store sensitive data when they keep a list of your contacts forever in the cloud (and in some cases now even message contents).

People really should stop conflating the technical requirements for an optional back service, with they are always collecting our data and anything is a lie.

The back up service is optional, but Signal still collects your name, photo, phone number, and worst of all, your contacts. That is not optional. There is nothing you can do to stop it. That information will be collected and stored in the cloud. It's also exactly the kind of information Signal used to brag about not being able to provide to law enforcement because they never collected it in the first place. Well, now they do collect it, but they never updated the webpages that they wrote back when they didn't to reflect the new reality, just like they never updated their privacy policy.

> Signal still collects your name, photo, phone number, and worst of all, your contacts

Having been involved in a subpoena to Signal, this is not true prior to 2025. Signal does not store any of this on their servers, except for your phone number. I’ve never seen an incident in my career being able to pull a contact from signal.

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