I think this is quite strange, imo this is just virtue signalling / activism and much less about privacy. I install Signal on the Windows operating system on the computer I trust. If I wouldn't trust Windows, why would I install Signal? Also Recall is an opt-in feature, it's not spyware, that's simply FUD.
Second, Apple is doing something similar except they send all your data to the cloud (yes I know Apple says private cloud, but there's no such thing). What's Signal's take on that?
I respect their stance on privacy, but this doesn't feel like a rational decision to me.
You might trust Windows and even actively want Recall and simply not want private Signal messages, specifically, to be captured by it. For the same reason that Recall already tries to exclude browsers in incognito mode, as mentioned by the article.
Yes, I can see why the feature would be valuable. But the blog post is an emotional rant against Recall. Signal is lacking a lot of valuable features, I doubt this is high on the list of most users, yet time and effort has been spent on it. If you don't want Recall, then don't use it.
> Draws on your personal context without allowing anyone else to access your personal data — not even Apple.
Personal context === privacy sensitive data.
> Apple Intelligence is designed to protect your privacy at every step. It’s integrated into the core of your iPhone, iPad, and Mac through on-device processing. So it’s aware of your personal information without collecting your personal information. And with groundbreaking Private Cloud Compute, Apple Intelligence can draw on larger server-based models, running on Apple silicon, to handle more complex requests for you while protecting your privacy.
They can use nice sounding words such as "privacy at every step" and "protecting your privacy", but that's marketing. The facts are that Apple Intelligence is baked into the core of your iPhone for analyzing personal data and they send the data to the cloud.
Unfortunately Apple is in $HN_GOOD_COMPANIES and Microsoft is in $HN_BAD_COMPANIES so facts don't matter, but yes Windows Recall is objectively more private than Apple Intelligence.
Second, Apple is doing something similar except they send all your data to the cloud (yes I know Apple says private cloud, but there's no such thing). What's Signal's take on that?
I respect their stance on privacy, but this doesn't feel like a rational decision to me.