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Matrix or Signal?
(lemmy.ml)
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this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2026
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Signal. Matrix was made by Israeli spyware company Amdocs and when an employee was asked about it after the split to a UK company they pretended like Amdocs wasn't caught in multiple global spyware scandals already.
So neither is the answer, I guess. We're cooked.
Matrix is literally an open standard, use a server and client written by people you trust, or write your own.
Signal is literally made by a private company and is completely closed source.
Signal is open source but it's hosted centrally. So you're trusting their server.
Matrix is a protocol it's not hosted anywhere. But the primary developer and host instance now called Element.
But it being created and initially bankrolled by an Israeli spyware company known for creating backdoors, and the lead devs still refusing to acknowledge that doesn't inspire me much more confidence.
If you want privacy SimpleX seems like better option than Matrix.
You can host a server which uses software not written by Element. Same for the client.
I don't trust the Signal devs because I have no reason to. I don't want to use anyone else's servers unless I'm paying them or they're paying me ๐
And I love swapping/trying new clients.
You glossed over the fact that it came from Israel's intelligence-community. Its design is woeful--that's the protocol, regardless of client or server implementation. The project reeks of a state-backed program to get ahead of the increasing desire for encryption in everyday communications. Yet encryption has always been an after thought within that program. All those bridges to funnel different protocols into the program.
But they say Signal is centralized, and hosted in the US.