I’m not sure about which metadata is collected by Element, but it might be possible to correlate data, for example through fingerprinting. So it might be possible to know who the parties communicating with each other are and when and with whom they have communicated with, even though they did not provide phone/email.

With Signal, as far as I know and they claim, that is not possible. The only data Signal has is your phone number, when you’ve signed up and when you last logged in.

So with my limited knowledge I’d say Signal is much more private for personal communication. Especially if you’re not tech savvy and take additional measures.

And Lemmy is a social message board. There is no expectation of privacy here.

Element sadly collects metadata.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see that you’re taking some steps now.

But… you hadn’t even installed Signal yourself? So you didn’t even know how many of your contacts are already on there? Wtf dude?

“I will delete my WhatsApp on -date- because I can no longer justify using a product made by a company, Meta, that is in such stark contrast with my ethics.

You can reach me via Signal, a messenger that works just like WhatsApp. It is very easy to set up, but I will gladly help you do so.”

What are they going to do? Not talk to you anymore because of a little piece of software that is so easily replaced? If so, is it even worth talking to them?