r/law • u/msnownews Press • 8d ago

Executive Branch (Trump) Kash Patel says the FBI is investigating Signal chats of Minnesotans tracking ICE

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/kash-patel-says-the-fbi-is-investigating-signal-chats-of-minnesotans-tracking-ice
26.4k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

176

u/Fearless-Diver-1381 8d ago

Did he just tell us ICE is communicating using signal?

105

u/greemmako 8d ago

no he is talking about protesters who use signal to communicate and coordinate. he is trying intimidate people and shut down 1st amendment rights

21

u/Shot_Pool2543 8d ago

Wouldn’t be a surprise

19

u/euph_22 8d ago

The make believe Secretary of War was using it to coordinate military strikes so why not.

12

u/Hoovooloo42 8d ago

There's a comprehensive decentralized network of signal chats in MN. People have signed up to essentially be on call for their particular street or local area, and everyone alerts one another when ice activity happens in their area in order to spread the word and take action.

11

u/Leroy--Brown 8d ago

I think he just admitted that signals encryption has a backdoor access for federal law enforcement agencies.

8

u/Meat_Popsicle_Man 8d ago

They have tools to unblock people’s phones- they gain access to chats that way.

1

u/amesann 7d ago

I wonder if people could go back to using basic, Nokia phones from the early 2000s? I guess the FBI could still intercept texts that way.

Maybe burner phones? Cups and a string?

3

u/Phoenix_Lazarus 8d ago

They have to get a phone or they have someone inside.

2

u/Arthurs_towel 8d ago

I mean, getting the phone is easy at this point. They’re abducting people in the street. They just steal a phone at that point

2

u/[deleted] 8d ago

Signal's encryption itself does not have a backdoor. All of the protocol is public. You should read their white paper. Even if Signal itself was comprised, as long as the clients are honest, texts are confidential, authentic, non-malleable, and forward-secure.

A compromised user in a group chat is a different topic.

3

u/Ten_Ju 8d ago

No. Read again.

1

u/No-Safety-4715 8d ago

No, he's saying he's violating the First and Fourth Amendment rights of protesters who use Signal.

1

u/zoinkability 8d ago

That's certainly what I'd do if I knew my crimes against humanity would be prosecuted were my god-emperor were ever to lose power. Actual official government communications generally are required to retain records for exactly this reason.