this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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Privacy

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From a privacy standpoint, do Signal or Matrix (via Element) have any advantages over the other?

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[–] fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Signal seems to have better audit records (from what i hear) and leaks less metadata then Matrix does BUT it is a centralized service and its tied to cell numbers so there is some inherent metadata risk there as well.

Long and short I use both lol

[–] gnuthing@piefed.social 1 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

The only metadata signal has is your number and when you last accessed the app. All the other data is encrypted

[–] fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago

When messages are sent and the traffic does have to physically get to the recipent. That is to say you would need to schedule sends (which it can do) and use something obfuscate the network trafic (i.e. Tor, a VPN) and the reciptent would still be exposed in that case.

So if Signal's server was compromised and network traffic could be analyzed you determine who was sending to who and at what times. This could be leveraged for more targeted attacks or simple censorship.

[–] xianjam@programming.dev 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

+1 for both. IMO, it's easier to sell your friends on Signal than Matrix. Edit: In the US. I've just read that Matrix is more popular in Germany.

[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Yeah; I use Matrix for people coming from Discord, and Signal for people coming from WhatsApp and Messages.