Recommended Communication Alternatives

Any and all of my recommendations could change! Technology and government control is constantly changing, and as it does we must be flexible to switch up comms. I am somewhat expert in this area of digital communications and will try to keep this updated as events change. I try to recommend the most private, secure, and surveillance resistant communications that are also easy to use.

XMPP, Simplex, and Nextcloud are running on our trusted server. You can be sure nobody is listening in. Many other options for real time communication are available, but if you do not control the server, you need to trust them and the end to end encryption implementation they use. Here are just a few private alternatives I recommend.

Delta.Chat

Using almost any email account, you can chat with others using end to end encryption. Just install the app and login to your email account. Voice, video, and group calling is not possible.

Getsession.org

Session uses the same protocols as Signal but is decentralized and does not require identification.

Meet.jit.si

This is great for video conferencing like Nextcloud talk. Brave talk and other conferencing solutions also use the same WEBRTC technology. A self hosted implementation is more secure, but the main server does not require any sign up or identification. You can generate a link to a private conference and send it to someone in the clear for them to join you.

Matrix.org

This is a great project being used more widely. Maybe I will setup an instance on Ravergram in future.

Signal.org

Signal is very easy for anybody with a phone number to install on their phone. It is end to end encrypted. Because you must use your phone number, it is best for people you know and trust rather than for activism. It is centralized. I see hints that it may already be compromised or compelled by the government. I do not like to trust some unknown entity, and there is plenty of doubt about it. https://archive.is/Lhe24  Because it is centralized and requires a real ID, I put it on the bottom of the list.