I really like the idea of creating a decentralized network that has a fair monetization model built right in, instead of relying on donations like the Fediverse. Crypto got a very bad rep, but this kind of stuff is exactly what it’s good for imo.

It also has some core features that are missing from other similar messengers, like multi-device sync. And lastly, the devs seem pretty capable and open as well. They are very transparent with their work and seem to have the right ideas about where things should go and which trade-offs to make. E.g. their reasoning for not using the Signal protocol seems solid to me.

So I’m hopeful, but time will tell if it all works out.

Idk when you checked, but they work pretty well now. Not quite on par with Google Docs, but the closest thing I know.

I can’t recommend Synology enough! They make it as easy and painless as possible to own your data again.

If you have an always-on-and-connected device then you can self-host their bridges. It preserves e2ee because messages are de- and reencrypted on your device, and it’s relatively easy to set up.

It can be a bit annoying sometimes, but there are solutions for almost anything, like alternative clients and frontends. I also think it’s important to remember that this is not an all-or-nothing situation. Every little bit of privacy you can preserve helps, even if you still have to use their services sometimes.

If your example is mostly about chat then Beeper might be a good option for you. The messages on FB and IG would still go through Meta, but at least you don’t have to install their apps.

It’s hard to overstate what a nothing-burger this article really is! Let me break it down:

• Signal got $3 million from the Open Technology Fund at some point in its development
• Some anonymous source alleges that the OTF’s ultimate goal is to promote US foreign interests
• The current chairman of the board Katherine Maher worked at the National Democratic Institute and Wikipedia before
• The same anonymous source says she was recruited because of connections to the OTF
• She has at some point voiced the opinion that a completely free internet without regulation just reproduces existing power structures, and that balancing regulation and 1st amendment rights is a tough problem
• Signal doesn’t have reproducible builds on iOS (it absolutely does on Android btw)
• Some people feel like Signal chats come up more often than they should in court cases and media reports

That’s it, that’s the whole story. That’s the reason why the Telegram guy of all people thinks you should be careful, and better use his chat service instead, and the Twitter guy agrees.

I mean, reproducible builds on iOS would be nice, but that platform has much bigger problems from a privacy/security/sovereignty/freedom standpoint anyway. And the rest is just nothing turned up to 11.

I think some of the arguments are quite flawed. Bitcoin itself has most of the properties it is said to have, but it lives in a world that doesn’t and so some only really apply if you manage to stay inside the system. Like, your Signal chats are private as long as you don’t copy-paste them to Facebook.

Regarding self-custody/decentralization and using custodial services: The problem here is not that those properties don’t apply to Bitcoin, but that some people just choose to give away control over their wallets or not use Bitcoin itself for certain transactions. Can’t blame that on the currency, unless you think it can’t be done any other way.

Regarding privacy: I don’t think any serious “Bitcoiner” advertises Bitcoin as private. The message has always been that it’s “pseudonymous”, that you have to take extra steps in order to make it anonymous, and that it’s transparent instead of private by design.

Regarding transparency/inclusion: These paragraphs actually argue about privacy again. One is trying to spin the existing transparency into a negative, which is a valid opinion but not something “Bitcoiners” are wrong about. The other circles back to the idea of staying inside the system. Bitcoin transactions are inclusive, but ofc you can still get into trouble if you have to fear external repercussions and can’t stay anonymous.

pay for it with advertising your data

FTFY.

That part is not allowed according to the GDPR afaik, the decision about your personal data cannot be artificially linked to something else. They can absolutely show ads, but without using your data.

From what I understand the GDPR says you have to give users a real choice about the usage of their data, without any unreasonable negative repercussions. Having to pay money (at least as much as they are asking for) is such an unacceptable repercussion, no matter how FB might phrase it.

They are allowed to take money or show ads for access, but they can’t couple that decision with the one about the user’s data usage.

The video is probably factually correct, but very disingenuous with its interpretations and conclusions imo.

Of course Mozilla and Firefox have their own share of problems and bad decisions, and they are pretty well known and talked about from what I’ve seen, but equating it to Google and Chrome is just pure cynicism. Mozilla having to earn money somehow (1% donations!) and Google trying to maximize profits at all costs is not the same thing, even if it might look similar sometimes.

It’s a known issue and should be fixed in the most recent version of Piped (and probably everything that depends on NewPipe). I updated mine yesterday and it looks like all video comments work again.

Looks dope, but it seems like the Docker container has some very unfortunate limitations:

• Does not support desktop and mobile application connections, only supports use on browsers
• Export to PDF, HTML and Word formats is not supported
• Import Markdown file is not supported

This kinda makes it unusable for me. :/

Edit: I just installed it and … you have to login and pay for a subscription in order to sync between devices. RIP

Edit 2: It’s not a subscription, just a one-time payment. Might be worth it for some!

What does their multi-device story look like? Can I use one identity/account on multiple devices, with synced read state etc?

Edit: Looks like it’s being worked on. I don’t want to use a messenger without this feature anymore, but I’ll give SimpleX another look once it’s done.

I’m not saying these rules are perfect, but it doesn’t help if you argue against rules that don’t exist.

Commercial transactions are not “all” tx, and above 3000€ are obviously not the most common tx.

I do think the crypto restriction with no lower limit is too much, and I don’t get why they focus on custodial wallets, but it’s again not “all” tx.

Why does the government …

Money laundering, tax evasion and corruption are real crimes with real consequences, and knowing about the flow of money is pretty much required to be able to detect them. It’s a trade-off with privacy, so imo setting some limit for anonymous payments is the right thing to do. Idk if 3000€ is perfect, but it does seem reasonable.

Police have more surveillance and crime-detecting tools …

We need some amount of oversight and surveillance, so imo it’s not good enough to just exaggerate every proposal to the extreme and reject it on those grounds. These rules are not a total crackdown on anonymous payments, but they might still be too restrictive. But you kill every discussion about that if you just make up different rules entirely, instead of arguing about the rules that were actually adopted.

I think they are used synonymously in this article, but business could also mean B2B transactions, so between two businesses.

Clickbait headline. The underlying article lists much more reasonable restrictions:

• Anonymous cash payments over €3,000 will be banned in commercial transactions
• Cash payments over €10,000 will even be completely banned in business transactions
• Anonymous payments in cryptocurrencies to wallets operated by providers will be prohibited

So non-commercial transations are fine, as are crypto transactions to non-custodial wallets.

Sure no problem

• Definitely. I have a bunch of devices with FF installed, so syncing them makes things much easier, and because it’s selfhosted my data stays with me. Although just using Mozilla servers is pretty safe as well, because sync is e2e encrypted. That’s not the case for Google sync, so switching from Chrome is the important part.
• You can do that, but afaik it’s quite a bit more involved and not really worth it for me. I have a Mozilla account anyway, and the account server doesn’t store any more personal data if you use it for syncing. But if you don’t want a Mozilla account then it might be a good option.

Replacing Google services with selfhosted or privacy preserving cloud solutions. The biggest one of those was probably switching to Firefox with selfhosted sync server.

Afaik there are browser extensions that find and replace these kinds of tracking links with the original ones.

I self host an email server at home with a 1€/month domain from strato.de, and I just use their SMTP server as relay. No issues so far, and they also include a backup mx for when my home server goes offline.

It’s not like you’d only self host Bitwarden on that server.

• 12€/year for a domain incl. backup mx and sending relay for emails
• 10€/year for encrypted backup
• Energy cost of my NAS (unknown yet)
• 48€/year for a ways service

So just under 6€/month + electricity.

You can also selfhost it and get the premium features for free.

The start was wanting to reduce my exposure to recommendation algorithms. That got me thinking about what absurd amounts of very intimate data companies have about us, and how they can use that to influence people.