Signal's data collection despite privacy-focused advertising: Difference between revisions

While some social media posts and articles suggested that opting out of setting a pin would prevent a user's data from being uploaded to the cloud, this is not the case. <ref>{{Cite web |title=A few thoughts about Signal’s Secure Value Recovery |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712205333/https://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2020/07/10/a-few-thoughts-about-signals-secure-value-recovery/}}</ref> When a Signal user sets a pin, their data is uploaded to the cloud and secured using SVR, however when a user chooses to "opt-out", a pin is automatically created for them instead, their data is encrypted and then uploaded to Signal's Storage Service. User who "opt-out" won't know the pin that was created for them, will not be able to use SVR to recover their profile and contact info on a new device, but the data is uploaded to the cloud regardless. There is currently no way for a Signal user to prevent their data from being uploaded and stored in the cloud.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=PSA: Disabling PINs will now upload nothing to the server |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/signal/comments/htmzrr/psa_disabling_pins_will_now_upload_nothing_to_the/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616082821/https://old.reddit.com/r/signal/comments/htmzrr/psa_disabling_pins_will_now_upload_nothing_to_the/ |archive-date=16 Jun 2023 |access-date=6 Mar 2025}}</ref>