What do you guys think about the new EU regulation forcing Meta to allow user to create Messenger accounts without being linked to Facebook, as well forcing the interoperable use of Whatsapp with other messaging app (and from what I understood Instagram may also be changing) ?
I think it is definitely a step in the right direction (bless EU), but how good was this step ? After all, everything is staying on Meta’s server right ? Is this step just a good sign for regulating big corporations and informing casual tech users about privacy, or is it good for us privacy addict fellows ?
Once they launch interoperability, I can convince more people to switch. Of course there are some neat features like “Channels” and “Business catalogs” etc. are missing from SIgnal but I think it will be much easier to lure people out from Meta’s ecosystem when interoperability launches.
However, I will still not contact people who stick with Whatsapp.
I also very much like this forced interoperability because it wouldn’t come from these companies them self. However, Signal will not take part in this interoperability as can be read below.
While I understand Signals position, I think it is a bad decision because they won’t benefit from the new rules and stick with their own centralized network. That is exactly what the new laws want to prevent.
Oh, thanks for the heads up, I got too excited with the news and missed this important piece.
It makes perfect sense, interoperability between SIgnal and Whatsapp could compromise Signal users’ privacy and security if they choose to chat with people who are using whatsapp.
Oh wait, Signal is pushing usernames and hide phone number by default, interoperability with Whatsapp might break this feature, no matter you contact whatsapp users or not. If this is the case, then I 100% support Signal NOT to join the party.
But that means that people still need Signal to chat with other Signal users. This interoperability means that people are finally able to break free from the grip meta has due to the network effect. I really thought that Signal would support this.
With some clever UI, Signal can indicate that people are chatting with meta users at a lesser security. I personally also think that is better than no interoperability. It also gives the opportunity to slowly move people away from meta.
A possible middle ground could be building in interoperability but in such a way that it was disabled by default, and took deliberate user action to enable (and maybe clicking through a warning or short explainer of the risks, pros and cons). (Of course this assumes they could do that without negatively impacting security for Signal to Signal communications which may or my not be possible).
A clear information box before proceeding is indeed possible.
I think for 1-1 chats, the solution is easy. There you can easily add the interoperability layer which only lowers the security for that 1-1 chat. For group chats, it is much difficult. There adding 1 “outsider” means that the security and privacy of the entire group has to be compromised (assuming the group is originally hosted on Signal). If a Signal user wants to join a Whatsapp group, it is fine to add the interoperability the as with the 1-1 chat. For the user on Signal, using Signal is still better that using the whatsapp apps.
