I would very much prefer to use something other than WhatsApp (especially as Facebook has banned me for life from all their other apps), but my attempts keep failing.
My wife won't use Signal because it includes a crypto wallet and crypto transactions are taxable.
Matrix/Element would be my preferred option, but it causes so many security or encryption related issues that it has scared off everyone I tried using it with. Nobody knows what to do with the incessant popups demanding to "verify" something or other. Nobody (including myself) knows why older messages often can't be decrypted.
Telegram is less secure than WhatsApp.
Threema is not free, which makes it difficult for me to ask people to install it. It's not open source either.
> My wife won't use Signal because it includes a crypto wallet and crypto transactions are taxable.
I think the crypto wallet is lame, and am disappointed the Signal folks decided to integrate something like that, but it's entirely opt-in. If she doesn't want to worry about being taxed on crypto transactions, she can simply not use that part of the app. I actually forgot for a second it was there until you brought it up, and I'm a daily Signal user.
I told her it's not activated by default but she doesn't want to touch crypto with a 10 ft pole. She says if it's in there then tax authorities might eventually come asking if the feature becomes popular. And then she would have to keep evidence of not actually using it.
I think her concerns are overblown, but it shows how incompatible taxable transactions are with a privacy focused app. The two things should be kept well apart.
[Edit] Politically, it kind of defeats the purpose as well. You want to be able to argue that you have a right to privacy when it comes to personal communication. You don't want to be in a position of having to defend the privacy of trading securities.
This is why I also have my signal set for automatically disappearing messages. I want you all to try to delete your messages if you have iCloud turned on. It’s impossible and if you managed to do it they’re stuck on the server for 30 days. Apple is a spy service.
>What path would tax authorities use to ask Signal users (and only Signal users) if they've used cryptocurrency?
Tax law. In the UK, every single payment in cryptocurrencies, however small, is a taxable disposal that you have to include in your tax return if your total proceeds or gains from all investments are above a certain threshold.
I'm not ideologically opposed to cryptocurrencies and neither is my wife. She's just allergic to anything that could potentially raise tax questions.
Now I'm seriously wondering how hard is to fill taxes in the UK. I think I have done worse mistakes than a few cents in crypto and all I got was having to resubmit the forms.
Edit: On second thought, I don't own a business, so I guess nobody is going to look into my tax fillings with the same suspicion since they do not expect me to be doing anything funny with my accounting.
I use many messengers, Signal too. It lacks in polish and features compared to all the others. Its security premise is undermined by insistence of using a phone number – which can be spoofed or taken over – to sign up.
I see it as the result of hacking spirit running the development, not the product team. Currently it can’t compete.
not only does the hacker spirit use Signal, but they tell people that’s the only way they want to communicate. At least that’s what I do. It forced my friends to install Signal because of it six more people are using Signal.
People who contact me over SMS get an immediate phone call from me in response.
My wife won't use Signal because it includes a crypto wallet and crypto transactions are taxable.
Matrix/Element would be my preferred option, but it causes so many security or encryption related issues that it has scared off everyone I tried using it with. Nobody knows what to do with the incessant popups demanding to "verify" something or other. Nobody (including myself) knows why older messages often can't be decrypted.
Telegram is less secure than WhatsApp.
Threema is not free, which makes it difficult for me to ask people to install it. It's not open source either.
iMessage is Apple only.
So what's left besides WhatsApp?