Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Are There Secure Alternatives To Skype? (theguardian.com)
How can you make a truly secure phone call? An anonymous Slashdot reader writes:
I have a Windows 8.1 phone and mostly use it for Skype calls and chats. A bit of browsing every now and then, and checking public transportation schedules... What can I do to be able to securely chat and place audio/video calls? What do you think is the best device to buy and what apps to use on it?
Skype for Windows Phone will stop working in 2017, and Skype's privacy was already suspect after Edward Snowden leaked evidence of Microsoft's secret collaboration with the NSA. But are there any good alternatives -- especially for a Windows Phone user? Leave your suggestions in the comments. What are the best secure alternatives to Skype?
Skype for Windows Phone will stop working in 2017, and Skype's privacy was already suspect after Edward Snowden leaked evidence of Microsoft's secret collaboration with the NSA. But are there any good alternatives -- especially for a Windows Phone user? Leave your suggestions in the comments. What are the best secure alternatives to Skype?
Options are plenty. But the point is how you can persuade all your contacts to switch to the niche app of your choice with you.
Electroic Freedom Foundation created the Secure Messaging Scorecard to help answer this question. The biggest problem with this scorecard is it mixes desktop and mobile apps together without really indicating which type of app they are. But both Signal and Silent Phone are available for Android and iOS. Either of these might be worth considering as alternatives for the types of things you current use Skype for today.
You are kidding, right? WeChat is owned by Tencent which has tight connection to te Chinese government. It's worse then Skype in terms of security
WeChat is a Tencent product, and Tencent is partially state-owned by the People's Republic of China. So I can guarantee you that anything you do in that program - in fact, probably anything you do in any device with that program installed, or any device linked to your WeChat profile with social media or other links - is going straight to a national surveillance agency. Just not an American one.
That being the case, I have to seriously question the credibility of anybody suggesting WeChat in the context of basically anything.
Why are you people so obsessed with privacy from the government?
Because we don't fucking trust you, shithead. Haven't you figured that out yet?
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."