The Australian government tried to straight up ban encryption some years ago.

Different parts of the government. Both existed then and now. There has for a long time been a substantial portion of the government, especially defense and intelligence, that rely on encrypted comms and storage.

More like 23 years ago when the Patriot Act was signed, and every time it has been re-authorized/renamed since. Every President since Bush Jr. is complicit, and I’m getting most of them in the previous 70-ish years (or more) wish they could’ve had that bill as well.

Yes, like Signal!
Which does not only use end-to-end encryption for communication, but protects meta data as well:

Signal also uses our metadata encryption technology to protect intimate information about who is communicating with whom—we don’t know who is sending you messages, and we don’t have access to your address book or profile information. We believe that the inability to monetize encrypted data is one of the reasons that strong end-to-end encryption technology has not been widely deployed across the commercial tech industry.

Source: https://signal.org/blog/signal-is-expensive/

I haven’t verified that claim investigating the source code, but I’m positive others have.

Or alternatively, Molly

In the voice of Nelson Muntz: “Nobody spies on our citizens but us!”

The reporter mentioned signal, though the gov spokespeople didn’t seem to recommend any specific app

I go one further and also use public/private key pairs that my acquaintances must use to decrypt the scrambled letters I mail them.

I use some decoder ring I found in a cereal box, it’s totally secure.

B̷̡̡̢̧̺̩̝̤̜̪̰͖̻̗͇͓͙͍̦̹̹͚̠̲͔͕̫̤͎̳̱̦̜̖̤͙̎͌͑̂̿̋͐͂̉͜͜͜ͅe̸̺̠̰̋̐͑͒͗͑̑͂̿͑͘͠͝ ̴̡̨̢̨̨̡̯̺̤̝͇̠̯͚͇̰͈͙͍͕̖͕͖̜̹̰̗͙̈̍̄͂́͜ṣ̵̡̞̰͎̝͙͚̘̞̓̊̿̂̉͐͐̐̀̍̂́͋̏́̚͘͠͠ư̴̧̧̨̧̝͙̰̗͓͉͚͇̻͇̝͖̞͙̤͙̞͔̯͈̙̗̰̖̺̼͕͇̗̂̎̐̅͊̔͋̄̿̅̎̍͂̏͘̚ͅṛ̶͙͙͚͖̭̆̄̎̔̾͛̏̈̽͌̎͋̿̈̌̃̃͑̑̏̐̽̎̉́̊̿̆̌̕͜͝͠e̵̛̝̱͓̐̂͊̀̓̑̈́̒̓́̂̿̒̒̔͌̆͌̎͆̓͂̂̏͆̑͜͝͝ ̶̧̧̳̮̬̤̱̯͚̜̜͔̞̰̠̼̩̘͖̹͕̥͔̰͎͖̩̠͇̭̭̺̮̔͊͛̉͐͗͛͌̓̂͐̇̔̑̓̐̇̀̅̿̿̃͛̈́̔̏͛̓͂̏̕̚̕͜͠͠ͅͅͅͅţ̵͔͂̋͌̋͊͗̇ơ̷̘̱͙̝͖͍̪̗̮̫͉͖̪͉̯͙͛̋̾̑͛̇́̑̒̓͐̀̇̓͒̾͛͆̾͗̒̕̚͘͜͝ ̶̧̡̢̭̥͚̱̲̮͙̠̼͉͖̞̩̞̰̠͍̭̭͖͖̻̜͖͇̬͎̮͙̦͗͌̈̌̍̔̋̔̈́̈́̃̍̓͌͒̉̓͐̓̏̓̃̇̅́̐̃̂̚̕͜͝͝d̸̢̨̢̧̢͔͚̼̩̮͖̭̥̮͓̭͇͖̞̰̞̰̋̓̊̈́̈̐̄̆͊̈͑̓̉͝͠ͅŗ̵̲͓̠̮͉̹͍̰̟̘̄̈́̈́̂̀̆͗̔̓̔̐̀̍̓̄̾̋͋̆̈́̓͐͊͒͋͂̓̽͌̂̊͂̔͋̓͌͐̈́̓͠͝ĩ̴̛̛̝̹͓͚̦̱̰̫̌̋͌̏̒́̇̂̅̎̄͒̏̎̈͊͊̽͘̕͜͝͝͝͠n̴̨̡̡̛͚͖̼̖̦͔̬̩̝̞͔̥͖̫̮͎̻͔̪͍͖̣̻̯͉̝̜͓̐̏̾̋̂͛́̍̄̿̔͛̉̾̏̆̍͋͒̂́̽̆͐̋̈͆̊̈̈́̽̔̏̏̎̕̚͘̚͠k̴̡̭̙̼̻̟͔̏̂ ̵̨͓̺̲͇͔̪͇͓̥̰͈̲͊́̂́͋̊̀̾̌͋̉͑̍̿̆̊͐͆̏̑̑͛̾̀̀̏͆̽́͝͠ỵ̶̡̝̺̙͇̪̮͚̣̓̍̐̄̉̇̀͋̔̀̂͒̾̋͘ǫ̴͇̝̤͕̮̺̦̼̪̯̟̼̳͙̼̃̈́́͗̓̊͑́̾̈́͘̕͜͝͠ͅͅų̷̢̛̭̟̭̖̟͇̪̦̪̳̯̟̬͉̬͉͎̫͎̮̜̠͔̝̜̭̪̤͆̆͋̉̆̓̽̋̀̆̌͝r̵̨̡̳͈̝͈̖͈̻̺̮͖̻͓͓͇̩͖̬̣̪͙̗̥̯̍̍͂͂́̑ͅ ̷̢̧̢̧̛̛̖̹͉̳͚̞̟̻̮̟͙̥̥͓͙̻̩̙̈̓͆͌̈́͊́̈́̎̑͗̑̆̀̈́͆̏ͅƠ̴̛̛̱̰̬̲̼̹̬̰̮͓̜̐̔̈́̾̓͆̔͂̂͂̂̓̏̾͐͌͘̕͘͝͝͝v̴̛̤̝̹͙̩͌̾̾̒͋͐͂̍̽̈́͛̎̆̋̓̔̀́̍͑͌͌͂͆̈̚̚̚͘͜͝͝ͅå̶̡̢̹̻͙͗͒̌̓̑̋̂̉̿̌̋͋̆͋͋̈́̋̎̀͝͝ĺ̶̡̨̨̨̛̻͙̘̖͍̥̝̺͔͙̱̼͙̱̀͌̃̍́͊̉͑̐ͅt̶̡̛͎͕̥͉̙̰̫̲̺̩̘̜̖͔̝̜̤̮͙̳̻̮̠̦́̌͌̍̑̃̿̔͒͗̑̏̎̿̉̀̀͊̽̃̽͌͆̏͗͗̋̈́̔̉́̒͗̑̊͜͝ͅį̴̡̢̡̪̥͉̩̯͎̩̤̺̙̩̳̘͓̣̮̰͔̯̘̰̖̪̻͉̣̖̬̩͉̦̃̂̍͜ͅͅņ̵̡̢̧̢̯̠͍͖͔̬̜̥̗̜͈̮͖̗̺̳̱̣̟̦̗͉̮̥̏̿͒̏͆̔̀͐̉̀͗͋͐͌͒̀́̿́͗͂́̏̂͊̑̅͝͝͝͝ȩ̶̨̡̨̫͉̱͉̦̫͇̪̼̰̺̩̘̼̬̝̘̥͖͎̬̺̀̓͋̄̂̉͝͝

Thanks I thought from reading this maybe Salt Typhoon was the codename for the next version of windows.

I mean, clearly not the SAME people.

Att won’t make money off that unless they offer it as a paid service. No reason to give that away for free and the other cell carriers can just pay off (bribe with campaign contributions) legislators to understand encryption is “too costly to implement at such a scale”

You mean RCS?

I’ll raise you one better: use Signal (or simplex.chat if you’re cool). Google and Apple control RCS, and carriers can still sniff metadata. Cut both groups out with a proper messenger.

the safest perspective to have is this -

every single thing you send online is going to be there forever. “the cloud” is someone’s server and constitutes online. even end to end encryption isn’t necessarily going to save you.

for example iCloud backup is encrypted. but Apple in the past has kept a copy of your encryption key on your iCloud. why? because consumers who choose to encrypt and lose their passwords are gonna freak out when all their data is effectively gone forever.

so when FBI comes a’knocking to Apple with a subpoena… once they get access to that encryption key it doesn’t matter if you have the strongest encryption in the world

my advice

never ever ever write something online that you do not want everybody in the world seeing.

to put on my tin foil hat, i believe government probably has access to methods that break modern encryptions. in theory with quantum computers it shouldn’t be difficult

That depends on the privacy protections where you live and the policies of each service:

• most places in the US - they already have your data and aren’t obligated to delete it
• outside the EU - probably the same as the US
• the EU or select states (e.g. CA) - you have some protections and a legal obligation to honor delete requests

For the first two, I wouldn’t bother. I personally poisoned my data with Reddit before leaving, because I’ve heard of then reversing deletions. For the third, deleting may make sense.

But in general, I’d keep your other accounts open until you fully transition to the new one.

Below is information when considering a replacement service.

Anything where data is stored on a server you don’t directly control can be leaked or subpoenad from the org that owns that server. Any unencrypted communication can be intercepted, and any regular encryption (HTTPS) can be logged by that server (e.g. under court order without notifying the customer).

Even “secure” services can be ordered to keep logs. Here’s an example from Proton mai, and here’s one involving Tutanota.

So it depends on your threat model, or in other words, who you’re trying to keep away from your data. Just think about how screwed you might be if:

• a hacker dumps the servers data
• a police agency secretly orders recording of data and metadata
• someone steals your device
• the police confiscate your device

The answers to the above should help you decide which to type of service you’d feel comfortable with, and what tradeoffs you’re willing to make.

just wanted to add that deleting an app will not result in deletion of your data stored in the cloud (e.g. your emails)

deleted by creator

Do what the Germans did in ww1 when they knew their diplomatic code was broken but couldn’t change it. They put the important stuff in plain sight and treated it like junk mail and encoded the boring stuff.