Bruce Schneier has some good comments on how Signal is using Google to circumvent UAE censorship blocks . Great move by both Google and Signal.
Over the holidays I spent some time explaining to my family why I’m asking them to communicate with me through secure channels (like Signal) by default. At one point the question came up, “Why do you care if email is unencrypted, and why do you need to have privacy on the internet”? My response was roughly as follows:
“I belive, without hyperbole, that the future of freedom of speech and mankinds ability to retain a meaure of privacy in their lives relies on the ability of people use protected systems, like Signal. If we do not take proactive steps toward maintaining our privacy, we will lose it, not just from governments but from any siginficantly large actor who has no reason to care about our personal privacy. We are already experiencing these problems in the UK where recent laws passed regarding the internet are the sort of thing you would expect to come out of North Korea (no joke). It would seem that at this time, the only way for individuals to assert their preference to have private communications is to engage in those technologies that provide it.”
I’m paraphrasing based on my memory of the conversation, but that’s roughly how it went. I will continue to strongly support strong cryptography and technology which implements it to ensure the privacy of it’s users.