I just want to take another opportunity to hawk the Signal SMS app. It’s a good client, it’s run by one of the smartest and seemingly nicest people in security today, and it’s funded as a nonprofit.
Why do I mention it? This is a little political, but it’s related to everyone’s privacy and security, so I’m going to chime in about this tidbit that came out this week:
According to a transparency report (PDF) released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the agency got its hands on 534 million call and text records from telecommunications companies like AT&T and Verizon in 2017. That’s over three times the number (151 million) it collected in 2016, which was the first full year since new surveillance rules under the USA Freedom Act took effect.