Signal allows to take a screenshot of a view-once photo

[solzard]

• I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates
• I am submitting a bug report for existing functionality that does not work as intended
• I have read https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/wiki/Submitting-useful-bug-reports
• This isn't a feature request or a discussion topic

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Bug description

Signal allows to take a screenshot of a view-once photo.

Steps to reproduce

• Disable Settings > Privacy > Screen security
• Receive a view-once photo
• Open the photo
• Try to take a screenshot

Actual result: Signal allows to take a screenshot of the view-once photo. I confirmed that not only Android but also iOS app allows to take screenshots.
Expected result: Even if Screen security flag is off, in consideration of "view-once" idea, taking screenshots should be refused.

Device info

Device: OnePlus 7 (GM1900)
Android version: 11 (Oxygen OS 11.0.8.1)
Signal version: 5.42.8

[UserX404]

Afaik this is the intended behavior and is handled as a feature request on the forum.

[cody-signal]

This has come up a few times, and pretty much we don't see the value in it. If someone really wants to capture view-once media, there are so many ways to do it even if we did block screenshots. Like someone using a camera to take a picture of the screen. Or using a linked desktop and taking screenshots there that cannot be stopped.

Adding this protection leads to a false sense of security that is more harmful than trying to stop one of many ways of capturing view once media.

[ZacheryGlass]

What about notifying a user that a screenshot of their chat was taken, as is done in Snapchat? Yes, it can be circumvented via an external camera or by using the desktop app, but that doesn’t make it useless. The feature can be circumvented in the same way on Snapchat, but it is still a very popular and loved feature, because although people know that it can be circumvented, it is cumbersome to do so, therefore making it much more unlikely for people to bypass the screenshot notification unless they are very motivated to do so.

In my opinion, having additional information about your conversations can only be beneficial, even if you do not receive that information 100% consistently, it’s still valuable when you do. I do not believe this would result in a false sense of security, as everybody using this feature on Snapchat is aware of the ways that it can be circumvented, as it is quite obvious.

Additionally, to draw a parallel, it is quite easy to circumvent the read-receipts feature (read a message without the sender receiving a read receipt) but everybody still values read receipts despite that. I believe screenshot-receipts are valuable in just the same way.

[olfek]

@ZacheryGlass 100% agree with you, it looks like the devs here threw common sense out of the window, at least WhatsApp has it implemented correctly smh 🤦🤦🤦

[jzbor]

Hi, I also agree with @ZacheryGlass and @olfek . Although this is no guarantee for the image being captured it is a nice feature to have for a lot of people (who are not "high value targets"). I think it is clear to most users that you can simply use another phone to take a picture of the content, still they like this feature on WhatsApp and other messengers (Snapchat even built a whole platform around it). If you don't feel comfortable with this being default behavior I think it would be sensible as an opt-in with a little warning about possible circumvention.

I know Signal officially regards this feature as resource saving feature, but sadly documentation is a little bit lacking in this respect. Given that this is considered a privacy feature in a lot of other messengers it is very easy for users not to notice is, which gives them an even worse false sense of security. I think at the very least a warning should be added to the support page educating users of what the feature can and can't do. Also a warning on first usage would be nice.

[pconwell]

What's the point of the screen protection toggle if it only blocks ME from taking a screenshot of MY phone?