[OTR-users] feedback request: OTR video tutorial

[ix4svs at gmail.com]

On 1 September 2012 18:00, Kat Hanna <kat at paip.net> wrote:
> On Sat, 1 Sep 2012, Ian Goldberg wrote:
>
>> On Sat, Sep 01, 2012 at 04:19:52PM +0100, ix4svs at gmail.com wrote:
<snip>
>>> Can you please check we haven't made any unsubstantiated claims about
>>> OTR in this video tutorial that shows how to make OTR conversations
>>> with Jitsi?
>>>
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgx7VSrDGjk
<snip>
>> Nice!  Looks plausible to me, and thanks for emphasizing the
>> "authenticate buddy" step.  [Although apparently Jitsi only supports the
>> old "exchange fingerprints" method?]

@Ian - indeed, Jitsi hasn't implemented the Socialist Millionaire
Protocol yet. Their OTR implementation needs some love, but I'm
evangelizing Jitsi vs other clients due to the
one-client-to-rule-them-all premise (basically OTR and ZRTP = the
closest we've got to online private comms for the masses)

> Nice, indeed! The only thing I'd suggest is that, since you're using
> Google logging as an example, that you explain the distinction
> between Google's "we promise we won't log your chat" "Off the record"
> setting and real OTR.

@Kat Ah yes, that old chestnut... I've dealt with that in writing in
an aging blog post [0], when I was telling people to use Pidgin
because I hadn't found Jitsi yet. I've taken a rather hardline
approach and kicked off the videos anything that's not absolutely
necessary to give people functionality & privacy. Therefore, I've
sadly had to discard/bury a lot of important context - like Google's
fake implicit promise with the "Go Off the record" option. Please note
Google do not even promise they won't log your chat, they just say
"Chats [...] aren’t stored in your Gmail chat history…”. Which means
they've got it but won't show it to you.

I'll add your comment to the text blurb of the video. Using Google
accounts as an example is another compromise we've had to make with
gritted teeth, as we don't want to push more people towards Google,
but if you want to give people usable privacy, you've got to talk the
Google/Facebook language.

Thank you for the feedback!

Alex

[0] https://apapadop.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/stop-google-recording-your-chats/