đŁTHREAD: Itâs surprising to me that so many people were surprised to learn that Signal runs partly on AWS (something we can do because we use encryption to make sure no one but youânot AWS, not Signal, not anyoneâcan access your comms).
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THREAD: Itâs surprising to me that so many people were surprised to learn that Signal runs partly on AWS (something we can do because we use encryption to make sure no one but youânot AWS, not Signal, not anyoneâcan access your comms). Itâs also concerning. 1/
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Concerning, bc it indicates that the extent of the concentration of power in the hands of a few hyperscalers is way less widely understood than Iâd assumed. Which bodes poorly for our ability to craft reality-based strategies capable of contesting this concentration & solving the real problem. 2/
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The question isnât "why does Signal use AWS?" Itâs to look at the infrastructural requirements of any global, real-time, mass comms platform and ask how it is that we got to a place where thereâs no realistic alternative to AWS and the other hyperscalers. 3/
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@Mer__edith What if, instead of running a global comms platform for millions of people that requires AWS level infrastructure, we run a bunch of small, local ones that all federate and interop with each other?
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@daniel @Mer__edith Even _IF_ it were possible to create a black box version of "distributed Signal mesh node in a box" that you could run in your basement to help make Signal more tolerant - I mean with enough $ and willpower Im sure it could be done - there's still the question of: if you don't control physical access to the node, there's still potential for attack regardless of how much encryption and protection. Would you ever be able to trust it completely?
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@tezoatlipoca @daniel @Mer__edith I'm quite sure that I have more physical access control to the xmpp server that I hope to have running in my office at home in a few weeks than to any AWS node, so that would already be an improvement.
also, if somebody is willing to break into my home to get access to the updates on how often the neighborhood cat has been fed, I want to congratulate them on their priorities.
unless it's the cat himself. in that case âget out, you're not allowed in this room, because it's not cat safe, and *how* did you even manage to get in?â
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@tezoatlipoca thankfully *that* particular failure mode can't happen (fanless SBC), but now I've spent too many minutes working on an hypothetical scenario where âhungry cat with hacker skillsâ is part of the thread model, and I am worrying for my own sanity just a bit :D
