Well, I like the idea of end-to-end encryption, combined with storage/archiving on equipment under my own control.
Email seems fine, if it's your own server and you can keep it secure. Including, secure from some legal argument that they can knock on your door or the data center's and just have a look at whatever they want.
There was a fellow in the UK who used assymmetric keys to encrypt all his inbound email, holding it on the server in encrypted form where the paired key was not on the server but rather available only to his email client.
Then, you have the problem of security in transit. That email doesn't offer, inherently. And most of your correspondents won't use PGP/GPG nor SMIME.
I just had another friend start using WhatsApp. Is it really secure? I don't know. At least, she'll use it.
WhatsApp offers to archive your correspondence to Google Drive. I haven't turned that on.
I've tried brining up Signal with a few friends, but they won't give it the time of day. (Unlike the Washington, DC crowd, who now appear to be flocking to it in minor degree.)
The tool I might use is for SMS/MMS. It used to also offer to archive WhatsApp conversations, but that's been discontinued.
So yeah, this isn't any "big security context". Just my personal stuff. But the default is to put the messages into Gmail. On the one hand, actually convenient. On the other... just, no.
I have a bootlooped Nexus 5x with a bunch of SMS/MMS I never backed up. Including, I now realize, from a friendship that's ended. I'd kind of like to have some of those. So, I'd like to be pro-active with regard to the next phone that's going to crap out on me.
----
P.S. In short, I think I basically agree with you. Decentralized, and under one's own control.
It's just that:
Email doesn't secure the transport, and many people won't secure their messages before transport.
If it's not your own email server, under your control including perhaps physical, law in the U.S. with respect to email designates older messages as quasi-abandoned and "up for grabs".
And I forgot to mention the many posts/comments I've been reading here, about how more and more difficult it's becoming to run your own email server, not just in terms of securing it but also because more and more email providers are shit-canning any emails that don't appear to be blessed by their counterparts.
Anyway, I'm not promoting the idea that I have some particularly good answer. Rather, just food for thought.
Email seems fine, if it's your own server and you can keep it secure. Including, secure from some legal argument that they can knock on your door or the data center's and just have a look at whatever they want.
There was a fellow in the UK who used assymmetric keys to encrypt all his inbound email, holding it on the server in encrypted form where the paired key was not on the server but rather available only to his email client.
Then, you have the problem of security in transit. That email doesn't offer, inherently. And most of your correspondents won't use PGP/GPG nor SMIME.
I just had another friend start using WhatsApp. Is it really secure? I don't know. At least, she'll use it.
WhatsApp offers to archive your correspondence to Google Drive. I haven't turned that on.
I've tried brining up Signal with a few friends, but they won't give it the time of day. (Unlike the Washington, DC crowd, who now appear to be flocking to it in minor degree.)
The tool I might use is for SMS/MMS. It used to also offer to archive WhatsApp conversations, but that's been discontinued.
Umm...
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.zegoggles.smssync/
It's also on Play.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zegoggles....
So yeah, this isn't any "big security context". Just my personal stuff. But the default is to put the messages into Gmail. On the one hand, actually convenient. On the other... just, no.
I have a bootlooped Nexus 5x with a bunch of SMS/MMS I never backed up. Including, I now realize, from a friendship that's ended. I'd kind of like to have some of those. So, I'd like to be pro-active with regard to the next phone that's going to crap out on me.
----
P.S. In short, I think I basically agree with you. Decentralized, and under one's own control.
It's just that:
Email doesn't secure the transport, and many people won't secure their messages before transport.
If it's not your own email server, under your control including perhaps physical, law in the U.S. with respect to email designates older messages as quasi-abandoned and "up for grabs".
And I forgot to mention the many posts/comments I've been reading here, about how more and more difficult it's becoming to run your own email server, not just in terms of securing it but also because more and more email providers are shit-canning any emails that don't appear to be blessed by their counterparts.
Anyway, I'm not promoting the idea that I have some particularly good answer. Rather, just food for thought.