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Re:Signal WhatsApp Chats Import by herbstein on Friday January 08, 2021 @12:54PM (#25687503)
The Signal protocol is forward-secret. I don't know the nitty-gritty specifics of the protocol, but the essence is this:

You don't want someone getting access to your account two years from now to be able to access every old message. Consider every message a separate object that gets encrypted. The keys are changed/updated each time a new device is added to an account. That new device only knows the new key(s), and thus can only decrypt new messages.

Re:Signal WhatsApp Chats Import by tw04 on Friday January 08, 2021 @01:10PM (#25687703)
>You don't want someone getting access to your account two years from now to be able to access every old message.

The messages I don't want people getting ahold of are either created with expirations or I manually delete them. I couldn't care less if someone 2 years from now can read a chat log between me and my mom if it means that I can actually read them 2 years and multiple devices away from now as well.

What I don't want is to be forced to message with one app for secure chat and something completely different for daily driving. It's a pain, and nobody in my circle is willing to do it (and I don't blame them).

Re:Signal WhatsApp Chats Import by FalconSensei on Friday January 08, 2021 @02:01PM (#25688606)
Completely agree with that.

This whole 'I don't care about history' discourse can change greatly for some people after a loved one dies, for example.

Re:Signal WhatsApp Chats Import by hackmiester on Friday January 08, 2021 @04:04PM (#25690486)
Neither you nor any Signal dev knows what I want (i.e., what security vs convenience tradeoffs I am willing to make). I will choose the tool that allows me to use it in the way I want to use it.