f27ec770fc
Observed on the operator's machine 2026-10-30 while reinstalling to put the app to use. Four months after the package was purged, a fresh install found ~/.config/Signal/sql/db.sqlite (54,214,656 bytes, mtime 2026-06-21), tried to open it, and aborted before the linking screen: MainSQL: sqlite(SQLITE_NOTADB): file is not a database in PRAGMA journal_mode = WAL MainSQL: migrateDatabase: Migration without cipher change failed sql.initialize was unsuccessful; returning early The SQLCipher key in config.json no longer resolved. The UI named nothing and offered only 'Delete data and restart', which discards the history. Moving the config directory aside fixes it; nothing in the product says so. Recorded as a medium finding, status open. The score does not move: 76.4 / B. local_data_exposure was already 5 for exactly this behaviour, and a finding is evidence, not a point. What changes is that the number now has a receipt instead of a rationale. Artifact: Servetus/00-Artifacts/2026/10-Oct/30/clu-signal-startup-failure/ main.log.excerpt - the failing run, verbatim 00-provenance.txt - package version, file sizes, sha256 of the retained db Retained state moved to ~/Signal-backup-2026-10-30-0026, not deleted.
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<title>Signal Desktop scored 76.4 — BigTech.sucks</title>
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<body><div class="wrap"><nav>
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<a href="/">The list</a>
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<a href="/method.html">Method</a>
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<a href="/badges.html">Badge</a>
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<a href="/oath.html">The Oath</a>
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<a href="/game.html">Game</a>
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<a href="https://forge.binaryranch.com/bunkhouse/bigtech-sucks">Source</a>
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</nav>
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<h1>Signal Desktop <span style="color:var(--dim);font-size:.55em">8.36.0-alpha.1 on </span></h1>
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<p class="sub">Assessed 2026-10-29 by CLU, Binary Ranch. Source commit
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<code>5dad34ad5ea1</code>. Method btr-0.1.</p>
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<div class="score"><span class="n">76.4</span><span class="g">/ 100 GRADE B</span></div>
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<p class="lede">The strongest transport on the internet, sitting behind the weakest desktop client we have scored.</p>
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<h2>The score</h2>
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<table>
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<tr><th>Dimension</th><th class="num" style="text-align:right">Weight</th><th class="num" style="text-align:right">Score</th><th></th></tr>
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<tr class="">
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<td>Telemetry and egress</td>
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<td class="num">25</td>
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<td class="num">9</td>
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<td style="width:150px"><span class="bar" style="width:126px"></span></td>
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</tr><tr class="">
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<td>Verifiability</td>
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<td class="num">20</td>
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<td class="num">6</td>
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<td style="width:150px"><span class="bar" style="width:84px"></span></td>
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</tr><tr class="">
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<td>Server-side retention</td>
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<td class="num">15</td>
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<td class="num">10</td>
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<td style="width:150px"><span class="bar" style="width:140px"></span></td>
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</tr><tr class="">
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<td>Ownership, jurisdiction, business model</td>
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<td class="num">12</td>
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<td class="num">8</td>
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<td style="width:150px"><span class="bar" style="width:112px"></span></td>
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</tr><tr class="weak">
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<td>Local data exposure</td>
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<td class="num">10</td>
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<td class="num">5</td>
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<td style="width:150px"><span class="bar low" style="width:70px"></span></td>
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</tr><tr class="">
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<td>Dependency surface</td>
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<td class="num">8</td>
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<td class="num">6</td>
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<td style="width:150px"><span class="bar" style="width:84px"></span></td>
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</tr><tr class="">
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<td>User control and exit</td>
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<td class="num">5</td>
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<td class="num">7</td>
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<td style="width:150px"><span class="bar" style="width:98px"></span></td>
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</tr><tr class="">
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<td>Incident record</td>
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<td class="num">5</td>
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<td class="num">8</td>
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<td style="width:150px"><span class="bar" style="width:112px"></span></td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<p class="note">The weighted average is not the headline. <strong>The weakest dimension is</strong>, because a
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high average with one bad rung is an average that hides the thing that will hurt you.</p>
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<h2>Findings</h2>
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<table>
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<tr><th>Severity</th><th>Finding</th><th>Status</th></tr>
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<tr>
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<td><span class="sev high">high</span></td>
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<td>Received attachments are stored unencrypted on disk <span class="tier">CVE-2023-24069</span></td>
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<td class="tier">by_design</td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td><span class="sev medium">medium</span></td>
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<td>No verified reproducible build for the Linux package</td>
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<td class="tier">open</td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td><span class="sev medium">medium</span></td>
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<td>Local database key is held in the OS keyring</td>
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<td class="tier">accepted</td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td><span class="sev medium">medium</span></td>
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<td>Purging the package leaves the database behind, and the next install then fails to start</td>
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<td class="tier">open</td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td><span class="sev low">low</span></td>
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<td>Registration requires a phone number</td>
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<td class="tier">accepted</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<h2>Evidence</h2>
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<table>
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<tr><th>Claim</th><th>Tier</th><th>Artifact</th></tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Attachments are stored unencrypted on the filesystem; the SQLCipher key is held by the OS keyring.</td>
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<td class="tier">T1</td>
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<td><code>01-capture-sites.txt</code></td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td>Electron media permission defaults to false and audio is denied unless the user has enabled mediaPermissions.</td>
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<td class="tier">T1</td>
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<td><code>02-permissions.txt</code></td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td>Zero analytics, tracker or crash-upload dependencies across 224 packages.</td>
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<td class="tier">T1</td>
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<td><code>05-dependencies.txt</code></td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td>Only two audio capture call sites exist and both are reachable only from an explicit UI action.</td>
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<td class="tier">T1</td>
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<td><code>03-call-path.txt</code></td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td>Signal states reproducible builds for macOS and Windows are not available, and the Linux build is experimental.</td>
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<td class="tier">T2</td>
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<td><a href="https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Desktop/blob/main/reproducible-builds/README.md">source</a></td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td>Grand jury subpoena response returned two timestamps and nothing else.</td>
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<td class="tier">T2</td>
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<td><a href="https://signal.org/bigbrother/cd-california-grand-jury/">source</a></td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td>Signal Technology Foundation is a 501(c)(3) with EIN 82-4506840.</td>
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<td class="tier">T2</td>
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<td><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/824506840">source</a></td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td>FBI and CISA PSA260626: Russian intelligence compromised individual Signal accounts via phishing and Backup Recovery Key theft, but NOT the encryption or the application itself.</td>
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<td class="tier">T2</td>
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<td><a href="https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2026/PSA260626">source</a></td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td>Signal statement, 28 April 2026: "Signal was not hacked, in that our encryption, infrastructure, and the integrity of the app code was not compromised." Additional linkage confirmations shipped 13 May 2026.</td>
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<td class="tier">T2</td>
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<td><a href="https://x.com/signalapp/status/2048866663580246302">source</a></td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td>Open Technology Fund funded Open Whisper Systems $2,955,000 across 2013 to 2016, itemised on OTF own project page. This is the factual core under the "US government funded Signal" claim, and it is already reflected in the two points docked on this dimension.</td>
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<td class="tier">T2</td>
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<td><a href="https://www.opentech.fund/projects-we-support/supported-projects/signal-open-whisper-systems">source</a></td>
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</tr><tr>
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<td>Signal publicly committed to leaving the UK (2023, Online Safety Act) and Sweden (Feb 2025) rather than weaken encryption. A vendor that threatens to lose a market is behaving incompatibly with a secret backdoor.</td>
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<td class="tier">T2</td>
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<td><a href="https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/signal-exit-sweden-government/">source</a></td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<p class="note">Tier 1 is something we observed and saved. Tier 2 is a primary source anyone can open.
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Tier 3 is credible second-hand. Tier 4 is a claim with no artifact, and <strong>no tier 4 claim is
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allowed to move a score</strong>.</p>
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<h2>What was not tested</h2>
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<p class="note">No live account was used. No packet capture was run (D1 to D4 not executed, this is a source audit only). Android and iOS clients not assessed. No attempt to verify the shipped .deb against a local rebuild.</p>
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<h2>Check it yourself</h2>
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<p class="note">The audit script that produced the tier 1 rows is public and re-runnable.
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The database that holds this score is public. The build refuses to pass if the total does not
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recompute from these weights and these scores.</p>
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<pre>git clone ssh://git@forge.binaryranch.com:2222/bunkhouse/bigtech-sucks.git
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cd bigtech-sucks && npm run db:build</pre>
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<footer>
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<div>
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Built in the open at the
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<a href="https://forge.binaryranch.com/bunkhouse">Binary Ranch Bunkhouse</a>.
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Every repository there is one you can read, clone, and leave with.
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</div>
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<div class="fmeta">
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Generated from <code>bigtech.db</code> on 2026-10-30.
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Method btr-0.1. Every number recomputes from its evidence or the build fails.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="frow">
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<div class="fmeta">
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<a href="https://forge.binaryranch.com/bunkhouse/bigtech-sucks">Source for this site</a> ·
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<a href="https://forge.binaryranch.com/bunkhouse/otter-dark-mode">otter-dark-mode</a>
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</div>
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<div class="fmeta">
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<a href="https://binaryranch.com">Binary Ranch</a> · Venice, Florida
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