A Personal Shift Towards Secure Messaging

Dear Friends,

?I’m writing to share an important change in how I communicate via email and text messaging. This change may require a little adjustment on your part, and I appreciate your understanding.

?The Problem with Digital Messaging Today

US Android users, particularly Samsung users, may already know that Samsung is phasing out its messaging app and recommending users switch to Google Messages—at least for Verizon customers. ?https://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-drop-samsung-messages-google-messages-reason-3463520

?While Google advertises many “free” services like Gmail, Google Docs, Google Maps, and now Google Messages, let’s be clear: these services are not truly free. The real price is your data.

?Google collects extensive information about you—your location, contacts, documents, and more—to create detailed user profiles, which they monetize by selling to advertisers and data brokers. They are transparent about tracking cookies and malware detection, but vague about whether they analyze the actual content of your texts, emails, or saved documents for profiling.

?Samsung’s push towards Google Messages feels like a step deeper into this privacy-compromising system, and it’s prompted me to take a stand.

?The Bigger Issue: Privacy Along the Way

Beyond Google, there’s a larger problem with how messaging works. Emails and texts travel from sender to recipient via a chain of servers, each “storing and forwarding” the message along its path. At every stop, the content is vulnerable:

Email in Transit: While 95% of emails are encrypted during transit (using TLS), only 5% are encrypted at rest. That means at most points in the journey, emails are essentially “postcards” that anyone along the route can read. ?https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fdata.2021.568284/full

Text Messages: Text messages are often just as vulnerable unless you use an app with end-to-end encryption.

Why do we tolerate this? The truth is that many of us accept convenience over security, and companies profit from that complacency.

?What I’m Doing About It

To safeguard my privacy:

Email: I’m transitioning to encrypted email. In some cases, you might need to download my public key to verify and decrypt my messages.

Text Messaging: I’ll primarily use the Signal app for texting. Signal encrypts messages end-to-end, meaning only the intended recipient can read them. To communicate securely via text, you’d need Signal or a compatible app installed on your phone.

For those seeking alternatives, I explored apps like Simple SMS Messenger, which respects privacy, unlike Google Messages. While the free version contains ads (including Google ads), I’m willing to pay the small fee (~$2.99) to remove them and support their community-driven, open-source model.

?Why This Matters

Adopting secure tools may seem inconvenient, but the stakes are high. Here are some key facts:

?Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Security doesn’t always mean sacrificing convenience. For instance, MFA thwarts 99% of account compromise attempts. https://www.cisa.gov/topics/cybersecurity-best-practices/multifactor-authentication

Privacy and Security: By choosing tools like encrypted email and Signal, I’m taking small but meaningful steps to protect my data from exploitation.

?What This Means for You

I’m not asking you to adopt encrypted email or messaging, though I’d be delighted if you joined me! I understand that many people feel giving up privacy is the cost of modern life.

?But if you’re curious about taking similar steps, here’s how you can get started:

Secure Texting: Install Signal on your phone to enable secure communications.

Encrypted Email: Use providers like ProtonMail or tools like PGP for added email security.

If these changes cause us to lose touch, please feel free to call me—or drop me a real postcard!

?Closing Thoughts

I may just be one voice raging against the machine, shaking my “boomer” cane high and shouting, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” But I believe these small steps matter. Together, we can make informed choices that challenge the status quo and prioritize our digital privacy.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Warm regards,

Peter Mantos

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