it took a long time to get all my important family members & friends on signal, but it’s been worth the effort! don’t give up!
this post was submitted on 01 May 2025
37 points (91.1% liked)
Privacy
37404 readers
463 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
I just told everybody I'm out if it isn't on signal. Which, fortunately, also got me out of a few group chats - nice
Signal has worked fine for me
I moved my family successfully to Signal a few years ago, and so far I've only very rarely encountered issues with video calls
That's what I wanted to say as well. Not only national video calls but also regularly calling across the globe in video group calls, no problem whatsoever.
It wasn't easy to establish back in the day, but since Skype is no alternative anymore, it should be a very good argument in favor of signal.
Only downside I had today: can't have the same account on two Android devices. Desktop (Linux in my case) no problem to Link to my signal app on my android phone, but I was not able to use it on my android tablet today. Or was it just me, and there is a way?
Matrix. Self-hostable, and basically everything you're looking for. Just can be a real PITA to setup TURN/STUN.
I personally use signal. Never had problems with video calls or anything really.
I host a Nextcloud for my family and it came with Nextcloud Talk which works fine
Signal should work, at least through my experience. It would also serve as a chat and stories alternative.
Hello,
You could give a look at simplex (https://simplex.chat/) ; it seems to be a possible alternative to signal, mostly focus on protecting user's privacy. Yet in my experience it doesn't allow (yet?) a call between multiple devices simultaneously.
An other alternative would be to use xmpp protocol using a jabber like server and apps. The advantage being that there is a lot of servers and even more apps, and that not every family members need to use the same... but if you are the one going to help them install, setup and upkeep, you may see mulyiplicity as a down side.
Signal is the way to go, been successful in moving my family, two friend groups and girlfriend. Any other closed source non encrypted messagers will collect all your family informations, news, pictures. This should be convincing enough for them
Why not Signal? it's like WA. My family were able to accept it in the end, and it's easier now than years ago.
Controversial take:
When Signal came up WA sucked, wasn't secure. Nowadays they adopted the same E2EE that Signal uses and there isn't much difference privacy-wise. Of course I still prefer not to feed the Zuckerborg, but WA objectively isn't as bad as it was back then.
edit: apparently the E2EE does not apply to media and document attachments, and all metadata, so you might still want to consider who you entrust with that.
Controversial take
Meta still collects all the meta data it gets it's hands on. Also WhatsApp is completely closed source and proprietary. You will never know if they properly encrypt your stuff and if the private keys really never leave your device. You still have to trust Zuckerberg that he properly protects your data ... from him.
meta data
private keys
Don't get baited into tech talk: it's a strategy. We do not control WhatsApp, anti-libre software.
WhatsApp being not as bad as it used to be is a low bar that doesn't really speak to any sort of reliability or trustworthiness
Eating a different turd still tastes of shit.
WhatsApp fails to include a libre software license text file. We do not control it, anti-libre software.
These victims will believe anything WhatsApp tells them but you can dodge their scam.
I've been looking for an alternative as well. My gaming friends always use Skype when we play together. We started a million years ago when Skype was huge and everyone had it and since it kept working, we kept it around.
We tried a lot of stuff, but nothing just works the way Skype always did. Why did MS have to be bitches and get rid of it.
Mumble has a very small footprint and exceptional voice quality. It's intended to use while gaming as well.
Looks good, but video chat is a must have. We like to give each other the middle finger often.
I've been using jitsi meet for video calls for years now, that should work just fine.
Thanks, I'll look into it. It doesn't seem that easy but might be an option
Yeah I remember it was not that easy to set up, but it's gotten a lot easier recently. I switched from the native to the docker install last year and was surprised to have it all back up and running in an afternoon...
Beeper is a good, easy solution. And it has a few platforms that might entice your family (FB, x, Whatsapp, signal, etc). It's basically matrix with a bunch of bridges preset up.. it can be self hosted if you really want to be privacy focused... I like it as it makes the login experience much easier than a traditional matrix app (like it just email them a code each login)
wire
You already have your family using an encrypted service WhatsApp. Better to make them verify encryption keys with each other. And set group to auto delete messages after 30 days.
We hate what’s app because of all the metadata leakage. But it’s metadata of your family being a family. “They” already know you are a family.
If you can cinch the win though, then get them onto signal. If not, harden WhatsApp for the whole group by showing them how to use settings.
Wrong, WhatsApp bans us verifying it. We do not control it, anti-libre software. Do not fall for their blantant scam, lmao.
OP mentions that his family already uses WhatsApp. It’s a far bigger jump from Skypes encryption. I’m telling them to not be discouraged because they’ve already gotten pretty far.
I don’t think their normie family is going to be dragged any further than corporate end-end encryption, with dedicated servers in every country. But I like being pleasantly surprised.
And frankly, no government is going to be able to hack meeting up with your family for a face to face talk of sensitive info.
Very insulting, how retarded do they think our families are? From one malware to another, well done.
Threema is a one time payment, then it's "free" forever. You can get some google play gift cards and offer them to your family. It looks reliable and it has group calls.
Nope, this forces you to use their service. This is called service as a software substitute.