Posted on 01/18/2023 12:04:19 PM PST by ansel12
I formed a Neighborhood Watch group and now need a messaging app.
The police rep. mentioned WhatsApp but supposedly some people are moving away from it to Signal.
Not knowing anything about social media I need some advice, our group already has Facebook which I don't have, don't do, and can't even seem to get, and someone else handles that Facebook account and it isn't used much by them I'm told.
My first instinct is to use Signal, but I'm really in the dark about these things and once I sign-up someone else will be doing the mass communications on it, any input on this kind of thing is appreciated, thanks.
I love signal!
It’s best to be under the radar and incognito.
You can use just about anything but the best idea - for whatever method you use - is to have a code language or set of symbols so that even if someone is spying on you and can see what you’re entering in a text, they won’t be able to make sense of it. (I always like the simplest field tactics.)
For example, you could pick a different subject every day such as “next weekend’s block party” and just enter in a bunch of random gobbledygook about who’s going to bring the salad and so on, but the accompany this chitchat with emoticons or turns of phrase that describe the scene. Three pumpkins in a row with a series of numbers “three unknown subjects jogging seen on this block” and so on.
Telegram or WhatsApp- both work well.
Signal is peer-to-peer. No middleman. Communications are encrypted in transit and at rest. The others have central servers where your data could be stored to be parsed later.
Stick with signal.
What kind of security concerns are there? What about the encryption of Signal?
I can see legal issues when discussing named individuals but figure that I could switch someone to emails or personal phone calls if in-depth discussions of a criminal neighbor were required.
One defensive shooting group I am in uses ‘Slack’, but I actually dont know if that has encryption. Signal has encryption and is peer to peer as others have said.
My personal belief is that one’s security should all be internal, using personal symbols and language. No application is that secure. If someone can see your screen, it all goes out the window. I don’t really trust any messaging app or “secure” email.
Blueberry devices had a self-contained messaging that could be used just within the system - it was very useful to, for example, terror groups like “Occupy.”
And what if your network goes down? In such an event, your neighborhood watch would likely be faced with extra concerns about crime. So, using a simple code of flashlight or headlight flashes, walkie-talkie beeps, and other things should also be discussed.
Finally, if felons are wandering your neighborhood looking for things to get into and observe folks out on patrol, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
What’sApp is crazy with the settings you have to tweak, and there is a belief it is remotely monitorable by Facebook, its owner, ostensibly just for advertising purposes.
Will people download Signal readily if they already use WhatsApp?
Also, since this will be my first time to sign-up and download any phone app, does anyone have comments on what it entails and how I should sign up for it? I already know that I have to give a phone number, can I use a google phone number and a fake name?
Signal was an easy download, easy to use. The real challenge is using it and sticking to it with so many contacts still using IM, etc.
My current focus is on the females, I’m trying to keep the men out of it and get the ladies to get to know each other, build relationships/friendships, build a social network and come to think of themselves as the eyes and ears of our community, the ear to the ground sensitives.
The women worry about personal harm and we men worry about our sheds and homes being burglarized.
The males already dominate the community with community service and are an aggressive lot with most of us having a weekly coffee meeting with guns, prayer, pledge of allegiance, and a schedule for helping people with repairs, weeds, etc for free.
The men are ready to charge in and patrol with guns etc. and right now I don’t want them involved and tell them so, I am determined that our Neighborhood Watch first establish the moms and single women and kids as the focus of the group first, or else we men will just take it over with guns and walkie talkies like we do everything else here.
Dangerous felons are not a big concern in this gun and veteran-heavy community, petty crime, broken windows, fearful women living alone, and feeling alone socially is my current focus.
Signal is the best. End-to-end encryption and the ability to configure disappearing messages. It used to be that Android phones could set Signal as the default SMS app, but no more, as a safety feature. It was nice to use Signal as the standard messaging service on your phone, which did not require the other user to have Signal installed. But that is changing, so both sides need to install Signal.
Whatever is the lowest barrier to entry, initially. Survey your neighbors’ preferences and go with the majority. Once you gain critical mass, you can introduce secure comms, mesh network etc. Well, that’s one theory. Another theory is that if you have some onboarding friction, you will weed out a certain class of neighbors.
I like Signal and use it daily, but it can give people a false sense of security. Most media are vulnerable to social engineering attacks, including Signal. What good is end-to-end encryption if a bad guy gets access to your unlocked device?
Signal... started by Brian Acton, who was one of the founders of Whatsapp. Whatsapp was bought by Facebook and Acton didn’t like the direction of it within Facebook, so he left.
“”What good is end-to-end encryption if a bad guy gets access to your unlocked device?””
It is Neighborhood Watch, what kind of secret information would be on someone’s phone that would be serious?
“and the ability to configure disappearing messages.”
Nice, it seems that might encourage some more timid members to post something they aren’t certain about.
> It is Neighborhood Watch, what kind of secret information would be on someone’s phone that would be serious?
I agree. That was in response to previous replies that mentioned encryption.
I think ease of onboarding should be the top priority. Grease the skids.
Just use the regular chat that comes default since it will use phone numbers and not Signal or Whatsapp accounts.
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