People really should stop conflating the technical requirements for an optional back service, with they are always collecting our data and anything is a lie.
The back up service is optional, but Signal still collects your name, photo, phone number, and worst of all, your contacts. That is not optional. There is nothing you can do to stop it. That information will be collected and stored in the cloud. It's also exactly the kind of information Signal used to brag about not being able to provide to law enforcement because they never collected it in the first place. Well, now they do collect it, but they never updated the webpages that they wrote back when they didn't to reflect the new reality, just like they never updated their privacy policy.
> Signal still collects your name, photo, phone number, and worst of all, your contacts
Having been involved in a subpoena to Signal, this is not true prior to 2025. Signal does not store any of this on their servers, except for your phone number. I’ve never seen an incident in my career being able to pull a contact from signal.