Google RCS, which is effectively just another proprietary internet messaging app despite being based on a standard at least claims to use end-to-end encryption, and is probably more resistant to mass surveillance than SMS. If those are your options, Google RCS is an upgrade.
this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2024
61 points (100.0% liked)
Privacy
32424 readers
497 users here now
A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
Some Rules
- Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
- Don't promote proprietary software
- Try to keep things on topic
- If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
- Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
- Be nice :)
Related communities
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
Don't cut off contacts unless absolutely necessary.
I did it for years, and now I’m living again; I have access to events too, simply because I’m now on WhatsApp and Discord. It’s a shame, but that’s how it is. But you can control what you decide to say, and make a physical appointment and then share IRL.
If you choose to boycott, the big risk is standing alone and just arming yourself, as you mentioned.
I think you already know the answer.
Joining a militant network is another way to find people who share your concerns, but you will have to search for them, and that can require a significant effort. But you will have new friends, and make your socials, bigger. Thats a good thing.
You will have many networks, separated.
I don’t know what else to say.
From now on, I'm ending every post with an "I dont know what else to say." Fucking mint.
Edit: I don't know what else to say.
Fucking mint.
I think you just gave your age away ;-)
Old? Young? I actually don't know. :(
I don't know what else to say.
Age or operating system?
Hihi a pleasure 😂😘
I don't know what else to say 😊😊
You can lead a horse to water, you cannot make it drink.
With my people from we use Signal.
Friends and family stick to text as it too hard to make everyone else change.
Because their friends use text… why change…
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
IMHO it's not just about the messages but whatever else the app might have access to just by being installed on your phone.
And being a Google app, which means it can access everything.
I'd sooner use a regular SMS app, and not reward their behaviour. Which is what I do. You want to use garbage like SMS or RCS? Then you suffer the issues that come with SMS.
GrapheneOS+shelter app should do the work. At least on WhatsApp and co.
Thanks I'll look into it
https://f-droid.org/packages/net.typeblog.shelter/
And with GOS, don't hesitate to explore settings for each apps, even in the work profile
Good luck to you, and have fun
Doesn't Google Messages require access to your contacts to even run? My experience was that it didn't even ask permission; it just gave itself permission when I first launched it.
It did that to me also. As soon as i tapped Agree, i saw that it had more permissions enabled.
If I was installing it again, I'd try turning off network access before tapping Agree but I'm not sure if this would work.
edit On GrapheneOS you can use scopes and decide which contacts it has access to.
As long as you keep it's permissions locked down, it's better because at least with GMessages you get encryption on some charts whereas SMS is just pure text being sent through your cell provider.
Beeper can bridge those into a matrix chat. Then at least you can chat with people who or on a privacy related one as well as the heathens in Facebook messenger
Can you host a similar bridge to XMPP?
Not sure about xmpp, but definitely matrix
I know about Matrix, a Matrix server is just more demanding to host.
A bridge is in XMPP speak called a transport if you want to improve your search for one.
From my point of view switching from a proprietary application to a free application is always a gain. You can't control what other people use, but you can take steps to reclaim your own freedom and control.
It's unfortunate there's no way to use RCS from a free application, though.
same goes in my family too. But they will be forced to switch to linux, since their computers can't run Win11, and 10 will expire. Not by me, but by Microsoft
last time i checked i couldn't get G-Messages to run without proper PlayServices installed.
edit: i believe I could get it to run but not the RCS support! So that made it very useless
delta chat. solves this problem as it uses the email protocol with pgp (when available), so from your end it's a chat client and from their end it's an email from you.
if they find it too annoying to reply by email they could just install the delta chat "email client", too ;)