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Signal boss warns app will exit Australia if forced to hand over users’ encrypted messages (www.theaustralian.com.au)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone to c/australia@aussie.zone
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Signal president Meredith Whittaker is prepared to withdraw the privacy-focused messaging app from Australia — saying she hopes it doesn’t become a “gangrenous foot” by poisoning its entire platform by forcing it to hand over its users’ encrypted data to authorities.

Ms Whittaker says Signal would take the “drastic step” of leaving any market where a government compelled it to create a “backdoor” to access its data, saying it would create a vulnerability that hackers and authoritative regimes could exploit, undermining Signals’ “reason for existing”.

Pressure has been mounting on Signal and other secure messaging platforms. ASIO director general Mike Burgess has urged tech companies to unlock encrypted messages to assist terrorism and national security investigations, saying offshore extremists use such platforms to communicate.

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[-] shads@lemy.lol 5 points 2 days ago

With the irony being I am sure I read an article a few months back about the rise in small scale private encrypted chat applications that some groups are spinning up because they don't trust things like signal.

I concede the point, maybe I am a bit blindsided by the level of knowledge I can bring to bear on this as I wouldn't find it at all difficult to spin something up.

I mean how trivial would it be to insert encrypted packets using a one time pad into meme images, half the conversations between my wife and I would look suspicious under those circumstances, a straightforward sequence of pre shared DSA pairs and the odds of ASIO being able to break it are miniscule.

[-] maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone 1 points 2 days ago

If you remember the article please share.

[-] shads@lemy.lol 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I can 100% commit to that, but I would suggest that its likely quite unlikely. I have a feeling it was offline on actual dead tree somewhere.

this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2025
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