signal Open Whisper Systems Defeats Government Subpoena Of Signal Data With Encryption

[steven36]

Do you trust your messaging app even though it uses end-to-end encryption?

 

 

 

As I previously said end-to-end encryption doesn't mean that your messages are secure enough to hide your trace.

It's because most of the messaging apps still record and store a lot of metadata on your calls and messages that could reveal some of your personal information including dates and durations of communication, as well as the participants' phone numbers.

 

Apple's iMessage app is the most recent and best example of this scenario. Just recently it was reported that the company stores a lot of information about its end-to-end encrypted iMessage, that could reveal your contacts and location, and even share this data with law enforcement via court orders.

But if you are using open source end-to-end encrypted Signal app, you are on the safer side. Trust me!

As we previously reported that the Signal app, which is widely considered the most secure of all other encrypted messaging apps, stores minimum information about its users.

This was just recently proved when the app was put to the test earlier this year when an FBI subpoena and gag order demanded a wide range of information on two Signal users, but the authorities got their hands on information that’s less or no use in the investigation.

Open Whisper Systems, the makers of Signal, revealed Tuesday that the company had received a federal subpoena earlier this year for records and other details on two of its users as part of a federal grand jury investigation in Virginia.

But unfortunately for the government, Signal keeps as little data as possible on its users, and therefore Open Whisper Systems was unable to hand over anything useful to the FBI agents that could help them in their investigation.

 

Here's what the FBI demanded on the two suspects, seeking a subpoena:

• Subscriber name
• Payment information
• Associated IP addresses
• Email addresses
• History logs
• Browser cookie data
• Other information associated with two phone numbers

 

The request was made in the first half of this year, the court documents unsealed last week showed.

And here's what the company turned over to the FBI:

 

"As the documents show, the government's effort did not amount to much—not because OWS refused to comply with the government's subpoena (it complied), but because the company simply does not keep the kinds of information about their customers that the government sought (and that too many technology companies continue to amass)," the ACLU said in a post. "All OWS was able to provide were the dates and times for when the account was created and when it last connected to Signal's servers."

 

You can see a number of court filings related to the subpoena published by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is representing Open Whisper Systems in the fight.

Much information about the subpoena is still secret — including the case number, the date the subpoena was served, and other details of the underlying case — but it's very much clear that the FBI sought detailed information on two suspects who used Signal app.

Open Whisper Systems is also the force behind the Signal Protocol that powers the encryption built into WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Google Allo's Incognito mode.

 

Source:

http://thehackernews.com/2016/10/signal-messenger-fbi-subpoena.html

[Holmes]

Me and a friend use whatsapp and we dont use it to share private communications mostly tech talk and it has end to end encryption I am curious to see if whatsapp shares the same amount of information.

[steven36]

Whatsapp shares info with  Facebook witch  in return  share info with law enforcement .  I  don't trust closed source 3rd party messenger vendors  with private info.

http://www.nsaneforums.com/topic/278098-whatsapp%E2%80%99s-privacy-u-turn-on-sharing-data-with-facebook-draws-more-heat-in-europe/

 

[Holmes]

I figured it out from reading this:

 

https://theintercept.com/2016/06/22/battle-of-the-secure-messaging-apps-how-signal-beats-whatsapp/

 

Signal is better.

[straycat19]

1 hour ago, steven36 said:

But if you are using open source end-to-end encrypted Signal app, you are on the safer side. Trust me!

 

Oh-oh!  Was looking good until I came to those last two words.  Never trust anyone who says trust me.  If they have to add that caveat then there is a reason they are not to be trusted.

[steven36]

1 hour ago, straycat19 said:

 

Oh-oh!  Was looking good until I came to those last two words.  Never trust anyone who says trust me.  If they have to add that caveat then there is a reason they are not to be trusted.

Soo you go trough the whole article looking for something to nitpick that figures,  why do you have to quote me too do this m its rude? You know  i can turn you  off with one board setting ?   , Fact is I don't have too trust HackerNews  Open Whispers didn't say trust me    Mohit Kumar did and i don't trust no journalist lol ..If you have a beef with him go tell him not me I could care less  what you think.  i just post the news,   But  the evidence speaks for itself  that they don't keep any useful info .

 

Where's your evidence to prove  it don't ?  Trolling and opinions  is not  evidence it's just trolling . you just  make hard for others to contribute at nsane down  by doing this  but  fact is it don't stop them from writing news  regardless  if it gets posted here are not     I'm not interested in that . I would be interested in  some real  evidence though.

 

The problem i have with you is not  the fact you try to debate  everyone's post  its the fact you never have any proof  to back you're  debate  up witch is borderline trolling  and  i don't learn  anything useful  because there is no proof. . You preach  we should not trust no one and you think we should you ?

 

I don't really trust no one  but i try not to preach it . Only I can share with you is the way i do things  ,  I don't try to decide what people use. I was using messengers way back before  the  encryption wars before any of these apps existed  and no one ever bothered me with no encryption at all . But it don't make me fell good knowing  they was reading my private sex life  , I'm not a criminal , but  I have had women friends on the internet some i meet in real life . They are  a bunch of perverts  to be spying on everyone .

 

[Holmes]

Those two last words are the words of the author not the company responsible for signal the author of this article is not a spokesperson for open whisper systems.

[steven36]

1 hour ago, Holmes said:

Those two last words are the words of the author not the company responsible for signal the author of this article is not a spokesperson for open whisper systems.

I know right  , most articles  are posted  by many news sites , what the journalist says don't matter so much  as the facts . They are some journalist who cater to haters , you take windows 10 for  example  there are some who post lot's of interesting helpful facts about Windows 10 but there so biased against  Windows  10 they ruin there article , I noticed  some  using clips  from good journalist post to forum a negative opinion and since the same facts be posted  by a 100 other sites. (This open my eyes  to the Fud)  

 

I  avoid there articles by  the biased  unless Im looking for answers to fix something. I use to get sucked down in all the negativity  for  a few months but I seen the light  I try to stay with the facts nowadays.  They lost my page view  pretty much  I'm interested on how to protect my privacy better than  listening  to people who just add to the problem     .  HackerNews  post some interesting news  there not biased really.

 

[vissha]

Open Whisper Systems Defeats Government Subpoena Of Signal Data With Encryption

 

 

If you think you and your data are safe on the internet, think again. As we increasingly entrust companies with our data and information, many of these entities end up letting us down. For instance, in a bombshell reveal, we recently learned that Yahoo was scanning user email for the US government. Yes, the company violated the trust that users gave it.

 

Earlier this year, Open Whisper Systems was served with a subpoena from the Eastern District of Virginia asking it to turn over Signal messaging user information for a federal grand jury investigation. While this sounds like the beginning of a sad story for users of the service, it is actually a beautiful tale with a very happy ending. You see, thanks to the company's focus on encryption and smart design, it was unable to turn over any meaningful data. In other words, the service was created in such a way that the desired information couldn't be presented even if the company wanted to. Too bad that Yahoo didn't design its services in the same way, eh?

 

"We've designed the Signal service to minimize the data we retain about Signal users, so the only information we can produce in response to a request like this is the date and time a user registered with Signal and the last date of a user's connectivity to the Signal service", says Open Whisper Systems.

 

The Signal-maker further says, "notably, things we don't have stored include anything about a user's contacts (such as the contacts themselves, a hash of the contacts, any other derivative contact information), anything about a user's groups (such as how many groups a user is in, which groups a user is in, the membership lists of a user's groups), or any records of who a user has been communicating with".

 

It is important to mention that the US government is not evil for wanting this data -- it isn't black and white. It is very possible that the subpoena is served with good intentions with a focus on prosecuting a case.

 

With that said, the government tried to put a gag order on Open Whisper Systems, so the company could not discuss it. That action is arguably worse than the subpoena itself as it limits a company's speech with its own users. Luckily, the company partnered with the ACLU and got the gag overturned -- hence us knowing about it.

 

Use Tor. Use Signal. https://t.co/VLvBsbVHKs

 

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 21, 2016

 

Does this make you more confident in using the Edward Snowden-recommended Signal for secure messaging? Tell me in the comments.

 

Source

 

My Comment:

Note: The app asks more permissions which includes unwanted change/modify permissions too. You can only view the permissions on Google Play Store website on browser and other app scan tools or appbrain or similar sites but not on Google Play Store on Smartphones since you'd only see permissions listed as "uses" but not in-detail or what it does.  Otherwise, the app is good. If there is reduction in app permissions for future versions, I'll surely recommend to others.

 

Earlier, when TextSecure was its original name, the app asks less permissions compared to other alternate call+chat apps. However, it is very bad now.

 

If you liked the app and want to use it, better send app feedback / google play feedback and email feedback requesting them to remove unwanted permissions.

 

Best Alternative: LINE which have better call quality and excellent features with less app permissions compared to WhatsApp / Signal.

 

[Togijak]

here was a EFF messenger score card (Check Back Soon: New Secure Messaging Guide On the Way!) and this was the result for signal

 

If you want the complete self made PDF from this score card you can download from

Site: https://www.upload.ee
Sharecode^[?]: /files/6223504/j7jdzDaULsPV.pdf.html