You are assuming that Android reports on every step you take. Do you have sources backing this claim?
It's nearly impossible to find out. But if I trust corporations like Google not to exploit the possibilities, I wouldn't be looking for an open-source alternative to WhatsApp in the first place.
Signal is not positioned as a tool for possible TAO targets. Never was, and never will be. Don't use it and please stop spreading the FUD.
> Signal is not positioned as a tool for possible TAO targets. Never was, and never will be.
Eh, that’s exactly what it is currently advertised as.
A tool, supported by Snowden, to be used by journalists who are at risk of being under active surveillance by state actors.
That is the very definition of a TAO target.
Re:Why I won't recommend Signal anymore
by jospoortvliet on Tuesday November 08, 2016 @06:24AM
(#12899339)
You shouldn't use a smartphone if you expect to be TAO. Even the hardware could be compromised. Use a laptop with Linux for anything anyone might want to track...
Re:Why I won't recommend Signal anymore
by kuschku on Wednesday November 09, 2016 @10:01AM
(#12910712)
Then why is Moxie advertising with Snowden the Signal app as communication for TAO targets?
And for non-TAO targets, WhatsApp is just as good as Signal – the users won’t read the source code anyway, and in both cases President Trump gets your social graph.
What exactly is a TAO target?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailored_Access_Operations
Aka NSA's "we really need to get access to this device and will fund diverting backbone traffic / writing firmware malware / whatever else we need to in order to get it" team(s).
Tailored Access Operations from the NSA
terrible acronym obviously
Re:Why I won't recommend Signal anymore
by curried_haskell on Sunday November 06, 2016 @08:26AM
(#12884951)
Google has root on your phone. Even if they aren't "for now", good security sense says that we should assume that are.
Re:Why I won't recommend Signal anymore
by fnordfnordfnord on Sunday November 06, 2016 @03:28PM
(#12886885)
It did formerly via Carrier IQ, which was widely reported in the press. So that's not unprecedented.
Does it know whom of your contacts use Signal?
Does Google know you've sent a message?
Does Google know that you are receiving a message?
Does Google knows who from your contact list send this message?
Can Google infer from pings who is communicating with whom?
Yes to all of those, because they have root on your phone.