[whispersystems] remove inactive users

[agrajaghh]

Hi everyone,

I wonder if it would be possible to remove inactive/old users from the
textsecure/signal server? I have several users in my userlist who
uninstalled TextSecure without unregistering over 6 month ago. I know
its possible to unregister at the OWS website
(https://whispersystems.org/textsecure/unregister/) but I don't think
thats the solution.

I guess the server has to save the date of last activity which some
people might see as a privacy problem, but it would be possible to
randomize these values a bit.

what do you think?

[Bryan Phelps]

I agree with this completely. It is probably a privacy risk to keep a record of last activity, but it's almost a requirement for people who don't unregister.

For example, I changed my phone number almost 2 years ago now and didn't think about unregistering before I did. After the fact I had no way to unregister my old number which means it's probably still sitting out there. This also means anyone who gets my old number assigned to them may get noise from whisper systems they have no clue about.

A possible solution that may be less of a privacy risk would be to have a process run twice a year that marks all numbers as unused. Then when the number is used remove that flag. When the process runs again 6 months later it removes any numbers still marked as unused. Idk what your thoughts are on this, but just throwing an idea out there.

Post by agrajaghh
Hi everyone,
I wonder if it would be possible to remove inactive/old users from the
textsecure/signal server? I have several users in my userlist who
uninstalled TextSecure without unregistering over 6 month ago. I know
its possible to unregister at the OWS website
(https://whispersystems.org/textsecure/unregister/) but I don't think
thats the solution.
I guess the server has to save the date of last activity which some
people might see as a privacy problem, but it would be possible to
randomize these values a bit.
what do you think?

--Bryan

[Alice Pote]

I imagine something like generational garbage collection could be
implemented. Every 3 months, numbers which are inactive (no activity in the
last 3 months, or something like this) are marked as such. If they're still
inactive at the next check they get dropped on the floor.

I think there's a balance here between keeping a little bit of metadata
(last account use) and preventing the buildup of unusable numbers (phones
which no longer have TS/Signal installed). Perhaps there could be a UI hint
about numbers which haven't been deleted yet but are currently at
generation 1 (marked as inactive at one 3 month 'tick', but not yet
deleted) so people don't inadvertantly message inactive numbers.

alice

Post by Bryan Phelps
I agree with this completely. It is probably a privacy risk to keep a
record of last activity, but it's almost a requirement for people who don't
unregister.
For example, I changed my phone number almost 2 years ago now and didn't
think about unregistering before I did. After the fact I had no way to
unregister my old number which means it's probably still sitting out there.
This also means anyone who gets my old number assigned to them may get
noise from whisper systems they have no clue about.
A possible solution that may be less of a privacy risk would be to have a
process run twice a year that marks all numbers as unused. Then when the
number is used remove that flag. When the process runs again 6 months later
it removes any numbers still marked as unused. Idk what your thoughts are
on this, but just throwing an idea out there.

Post by agrajaghh
Hi everyone,
I wonder if it would be possible to remove inactive/old users from the
textsecure/signal server? I have several users in my userlist who
uninstalled TextSecure without unregistering over 6 month ago. I know
its possible to unregister at the OWS website
(https://whispersystems.org/textsecure/unregister/) but I don't think
thats the solution.
I guess the server has to save the date of last activity which some
people might see as a privacy problem, but it would be possible to
randomize these values a bit.
what do you think?

--Bryan

[Mikel B]

Hi everyone,

Any tips on how to get a valid authKey? This is a parameter required in the
yml file (under redphone section).

Regards,
Mikel

Post by agrajaghh
Hi everyone,
I wonder if it would be possible to remove inactive/old users from the
textsecure/signal server? I have several users in my userlist who
uninstalled TextSecure without unregistering over 6 month ago. I know its
possible to unregister at the OWS website (
https://whispersystems.org/textsecure/unregister/) but I don't think
thats the solution.
I guess the server has to save the date of last activity which some people
might see as a privacy problem, but it would be possible to randomize these
values a bit.
what do you think?

[Jeff R]

Funny you would ask that. I'm literally sitting here right this second
trying to solve the same problem.

Take a look at
https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure-Server/blob/8d1159529053ff6bb881aa6f748f10b348cf2c7c/src/test/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/tests/controllers/AccountControllerTest.java
to see the example from a unit test.

Regards,
Jeff

Post by agrajaghh
Hi everyone,
Any tips on how to get a valid authKey? This is a parameter required in
the yml file (under redphone section).
Regards,
Mikel

Post by agrajaghh
Hi everyone,
I wonder if it would be possible to remove inactive/old users from the
textsecure/signal server? I have several users in my userlist who
uninstalled TextSecure without unregistering over 6 month ago. I know its
possible to unregister at the OWS website (
https://whispersystems.org/textsecure/unregister/) but I don't think
thats the solution.
I guess the server has to save the date of last activity which some
people might see as a privacy problem, but it would be possible to
randomize these values a bit.
what do you think?