36 votes

Signal introduces secure cloud backups

18 comments

  1. [7]
    AugustusFerdinand
    Link
    Having lost my Signal history before when a phone died and now use my own backup setup, I get it. ...but also... This runs counter to their previous ethos of "We can't give your info to anyone...

    Having lost my Signal history before when a phone died and now use my own backup setup, I get it.

    ...but also...

    This runs counter to their previous ethos of "We can't give your info to anyone because we don't store any of it."

    10 votes
    1. [6]
      stu2b50
      Link Parent
      They still can’t give your info to anyone, though. How is it counter to that ethos?

      They still can’t give your info to anyone, though. How is it counter to that ethos?

      6 votes
      1. [5]
        pete_the_paper_boat
        Link Parent
        Well it could be "store now, decrypt later". Also, aren't there laws which require you to store payment information for some amount of time in certain nations? However they may have made sure very...

        Well it could be "store now, decrypt later".

        Also, aren't there laws which require you to store payment information for some amount of time in certain nations?

        However they may have made sure very difficult to correlate a device some backup.

        2 votes
        1. [4]
          stu2b50
          Link Parent
          They already said the backups are E2EE. For all intents and purposes, Signal just has a bunch of random binary blobs. May as well just pipe in data from /dev/random.

          They already said the backups are E2EE. For all intents and purposes, Signal just has a bunch of random binary blobs. May as well just pipe in data from /dev/random.

          6 votes
          1. [3]
            AugustusFerdinand
            Link Parent
            Encryption can be broken and is one of the primary purposes of advances in quantum computing. HNDL (harvest now, decrypt later) is a key component of China's intelligence strategy. Before this,...

            Encryption can be broken and is one of the primary purposes of advances in quantum computing. HNDL (harvest now, decrypt later) is a key component of China's intelligence strategy.

            Before this, they can't hand anything over because they have nothing to hand over. Now it can be handed over (or stolen) with a handwashing of "well it's E2EE, so they can't do anything with it" when that will very much not be true in the near future.

            3 votes
            1. stu2b50
              Link Parent
              If they’re using the same encryption scheme as Signal’s chat protocol the encryption is quantum resistant. And if you’re going to assume that the encryption will be magically broken, then it...

              If they’re using the same encryption scheme as Signal’s chat protocol the encryption is quantum resistant.

              And if you’re going to assume that the encryption will be magically broken, then it doesn’t really matter to begin with. China or whatever can just passively tap internet traffic, and if the wire encryption is vulnerable, they will get your signal chats nonetheless.

              16 votes
            2. tibpoe
              Link Parent
              Symmetric encryption is not really vulnerable to quantum computers the way asymmetric encryption is.

              Symmetric encryption is not really vulnerable to quantum computers the way asymmetric encryption is.

              4 votes
  2. Shahriar
    Link
    I'm looking forward to the latter the most. It sucked having my chat history not be transferable between ecosystems.

    Our future plans include letting you save a secure backup archive to the location of your choosing, alongside features that let you transfer your encrypted message history between Android, iOS, and Desktop devices.

    I'm looking forward to the latter the most. It sucked having my chat history not be transferable between ecosystems.

    8 votes
  3. [2]
    skreba
    Link
    Let's fucking go! This might just be what I needed to get more iOS friends/family to make the jump to Signal. Also I'll gladly pay $1.99 for the longer media storage.

    Let's fucking go! This might just be what I needed to get more iOS friends/family to make the jump to Signal.

    Also I'll gladly pay $1.99 for the longer media storage.

    3 votes
    1. hairypotter
      Link Parent
      Same! I've got my whole family (all iOS users) onto signal for our chats and this will eliminate my parent's worries about losing their phones and losing our old chats and photos.

      Same! I've got my whole family (all iOS users) onto signal for our chats and this will eliminate my parent's worries about losing their phones and losing our old chats and photos.

      1 vote
  4. [6]
    trim
    Link
    I'd rather they offered a secure on-device backup that I could store on my NAS

    I'd rather they offered a secure on-device backup that I could store on my NAS

    2 votes
    1. [5]
      TaylorSwiftsPickles
      Link Parent
      Signal already offers on-device encrypted backups.

      Signal already offers on-device encrypted backups.

      10 votes
      1. [3]
        skreba
        Link Parent
        Only for Android, unfortunately.

        Only for Android, unfortunately.

        3 votes
        1. [2]
          TaylorSwiftsPickles
          Link Parent
          Genuinely forgot iOS is a thing. Thanks.

          Genuinely forgot iOS is a thing. Thanks.

          5 votes
          1. vord
            Link Parent
            Don't feel too bad, they mostly forget about us too.

            Don't feel too bad, they mostly forget about us too.

            3 votes
      2. trim
        Link Parent
        huh?! I've always relied on their flaky device to device transfer when changing handsets. A restore would be much better! Edit: I checked and there is no such thing on iOS. At least, not that I...

        huh?! I've always relied on their flaky device to device transfer when changing handsets. A restore would be much better!

        Edit:

        I checked and there is no such thing on iOS. At least, not that I can see. And this page:

        https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007059752-Backup-and-Restore-Messages

        Is a branching tree of epic proportions. It's really why I don't recommend signal for normal people. Too many footguns.

        Every time I get a family picture posted to a signal chat, I share it to my personal NextCloud instance. I've lost Signal history too many times. Last time was saved a little bit by having a linked device. It's not a good UX

        2 votes
  5. [2]
    mordae
    Link
    They are trying to get the funding going. I wouldn't read more into it.

    They are trying to get the funding going. I wouldn't read more into it.

    1. Minori
      Link Parent
      It seems like a valuable feature based on all the excitement here?

      It seems like a valuable feature based on all the excitement here?