This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
I don’t know about other people but this article is paywalled for me
Fuck this bill.
Only a day or two left to write to your MP and object to it.
Maybe we should be looking at the larger picture here this is exactly why Signal or any other privately owned centralized messaging system can never be trusted. Stop using Signal or WhatsApp.
Look at alternatives like Matrix that are immune to this sort of thing.
Decentralized solutions certainly are more resilient regarding legal action against hosts. But we do also need to fight the legal battle as much as we can. As long as there are laws restricting things like encryption that everyone needs to use, there can be selective enforcement against politically inconvenient individuals and organizations. It's another tool for suppressing dissent and free expression.
I use Matrix but it (like XMPP) does depend on servers and, though anyone can host one, this can make it vulnerable to law enforcement actions too. Others I've heard recommended include Simplex and Briar, which avoid this need for servers but may be more confusing for non-technical users. There's definitely an issue with decentralized software being more complicated to set up. Signal has been successful because it's so easy to use.
The point flew over your head so hard. People already use and can look into matrix and that makes this still bad.
This just in, Canada post and other mail providers will now be opening all envelopes and packages sent. All contents will be scanned or photographed and held on file for 2 years time, and released to relevant authorities upon request of investigation. To make things easier please do not seal packages or envelopes for easier and more convenient access.
All photos and scanned documents will be held in a highly secured database with easy backdoors access!
Pretty much the equivalent in terms of what Canada wants to implement with access to signal chats, VPN logs, and asking ISPs to keep logs for 1-2 years minimum.
Somehow our politicians don't seem to see the similarities between sending a message online vs sending a physical envelope in the mail. Also, in both cases a person could encrypt their messages/letters if they choose leaving regular folks with less security.
The thing is, anyone with nefarious intent will just use something else. Theres a zillion ways you could give someone an encrypted message.
Crazy, it's almost like they treat us like inmates!
~~To make things easier please do not seal packages or envelopes for easier and more convenient access~~
Sealing packages and envelopes is now actionable with a limitation period of 10 years.
Hmmm they do? They've been opening mails ever since it exists and now they are mad because they can't open emails? At least I would think so. I don't think governments ever refrained from opening mails and packages if they felt like it.
they're being sarcastic
Sarcasm went way above my head on that one. My bad.
Good Signal. pats head
how many countries has Signal pulled out of so far? I keep hearing about it
They've threatened to for a lot of them, but I'm not actually sure if they've actually done so.
There's a few countries that blocked signal, but I don't know if signal has voluntarily pulled out of any country yet
For example, they've threatened to leave Canada, Sweden, and Australia so far from memory
The pollies know the value of encrypted messaging, don't think there'll be enforcement as long as they stand to benefit
I believe the UK too
I don't know of any yet, but these "encryption is for crooks" laws all keep barely failing, so they have not had to yet, from what I've seen.
I dont understand how they will pull out of canada... will the google play store have geo-restrictions on installing the apk?
or will they just deactivate any account with a canadian phone number?
Pulling out is super easy. Just don't release a compromised version of the app. Done.
If the app in its current form doesn't comply with Canadian law, then the play store can't legally distribute it. So, problem solved.
So basically Signal can pull out of Canada by doing nothing different than they're already doing.
As for the users who already have the app installed, well that's just too bad for Canada isn't it.
It's possible Signal could stop distributing the app through the Play Store and Apple App Store within Canada. Signal is likely to shut off all servers they rent that are hosted inside of Canada at the very least.
In terms of them deactivating people's accounts registered with Canadian numbers that seems less likely to me.
Even if they potentially blocked Canadian IP addresses, Signal already has support for proxies built in and those are ran by diverse people throughout the world. Some individuals host them.
This isn't exactly the same since each situation with each country is different in terms of the law but Signal is banned in some countries such as Iran, Qatar, UAE and others already and people still use Signal by using Signal TLS proxies, VPNs, and other censorship circumvention tools such as Tor.
They didn't deactivate accounts after being banned and they still allow phone number registration in those countries.
For Android people could download the apk file from Signal's website instead of getting it from the Play Store at least.
https://signal.org/android/apk/
While we don't know with certainty what they will do in each situation the past may be an indicator of what they will do to a large extent. But Signal has never pulled out of a country voluntarily before as far as I know so it is uncharted territory.
I think the intentional deactivation of current accounts is unlikely to happen in this case with Canada.
Probably the same way Imgur dealt with the UK age verification. If you're from the UK, you are basically IP blocked from Imgur.
Possibly both. Signal will want to protect themselves legally.
Play store just checks what location you put in for Google account registration and shows the app or not. It's the same for showing region locked movies.
