So, legit question: how can they claim they don’t monitor any messages and still be compliant with local laws? Aren’t there some laws that require social media / messaging companies to monitor and detect child abuse materials? Or am I completely misunderstanding here?
Signal doesn't host any of the messages. There's no cloud syncing. For example, when you switch to a new phone, you have to transfer your chats to the new one. You can back them up on a schedule though in case you broke your phone and need to restore them on a new one.
When you install on desktop OS or a secondary device such as a tablet, you have to pair it with your phone via the app. It just has you scan a QR code. If your phone is off, the messages won't send from the other devices as they route through the main device.
I have them backed up daily and use an app called DriveSync to put them in a Google Drive folder at about 1am every night.
Then if I break my phone the next day I can just restore up to the last backup point on a new one.
Also there's a censorship circumvention checkbox so if your country blocks signal, someone can make a node with a VPN to route traffic within the country to signal's servers.
Signal has built in protection when you receive messages from unknown numbers. You can block or delete the message without the sender ever knowing the message went through. Google Messages, WhatsApp, and iMessage have no such protection:
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u/taskmaster51 Feb 17 '25
What is Signal?