still hella confused as to why self-proclaimed privacy advocates—even teams like @privacyguides—are pushing @element so hard despite the data collection & sharing practices, the loosey-goosey metadata usage, and the fact that they host on AWS.

@sp6@lemmy.world
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1Y

Just a quick glance at all of those:

-Briar, Tox, and Cwtch don’t have iOS clients

-SimpleX doesn’t have a desktop GUI has issues with big groups (see comment below)

-Session has a 100-person group chat limit

-Syphon’s own github states they are “still in alpha and we do not recommend using it where proven and independently verified security is required.” Plus, they haven’t had a release in over a year, so I’m not sure it’s still maintained.

Element (or most Matrix clients) don’t have any of those issues. Like I said, it’s not perfect, but I see why it’s recommended. All decent alternatives have significant downsides

@whale@lemm.ee
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51Y

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@sp6@lemmy.world
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31Y

Oh nice! Although, one issue from their website:

“Every message and file gets sent separately to every member in the group”

That seems fine for small groups, but for the typical Element crowd of large groups, I don’t think that would go over well. If you send a 10MB file in a 2000-person chat, you’d be uploading 20GB of data…

@whale@lemm.ee
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11Y

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@sp6@lemmy.world
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21Y

Revolt is certainly better than Discord’s privacy, but since it doesn’t yet have E2EE, it doesn’t seem like very privacy-focused software

@whale@lemm.ee
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11Y

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@whale @sp6

I looked at SimpleX a little while ago… and it was looking fine… until I read that they list ‘groups’ in some kind of directory… like chat rooms I imagine. Deal breaker for me.

@whale@lemm.ee
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21Y

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@whale
That’s what I read after installing the app (on a trash device).

Not that I’m using it for anything nefarious, but if you’re going to claim 100% privacy, I think offering ‘discovery’ services for popular groups goes very much against that.

In all fairness, I removed it shortly after discovering that… so maybe other users who have stuck around can clarify… I dont mind admitting I read that incorrectly.

@whale@lemm.ee
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21Y

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@whale

Fair enough.
When I read it, it sounded like popular groups would be listed… sort of like the ‘trending’ feeatures on social networks and stuff…

If I was wrong, I stand corrected… Thanks

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