Signal’s Rise: How It’s Revolutionizing Privacy in Messaging Apps

At a glance

• What Signal is: A messaging app built around privacy and end-to-end encryption.
• Growing popularity: Interest jumped after other messaging apps changed their privacy policies.
• Notable endorsements: Edward Snowden and other high-profile figures recommend Signal.
• Technology: Strong encryption protocols protect user messages.
• Future prospects: Signal keeps adding features and advocating for privacy worldwide.

How Signal works

Signal is a messaging app best known for strong encryption, and for years it has been the app security researchers, journalists and privacy lawyers install first when they need to talk to a source or client without leaving a readable copy on someone else’s server. With data breaches and privacy scandals in the news, many people want a safer way to talk. Signal uses end-to-end encryption so only the sender and recipient can read a message. Signal can’t either.

The 2021 download surge

Demand for Signal jumped after other messaging platforms changed their privacy policies. In January 2021, Signal saw a huge surge in downloads as users looked for an app they could trust.

Snowden and other backers

Endorsements from well-known figures helped Signal’s credibility. Edward Snowden, who exposed NSA surveillance programs, is a vocal supporter. He once said, “Use anything by Open Whisper Systems,” the team behind Signal. His backing carries weight with privacy advocates and technical users.

Open code and the Signal Protocol

Signal is open source, so outside experts can audit its code for flaws. It uses the Signal Protocol, which other messaging apps such as WhatsApp have adopted for their own encryption.

What comes next

As privacy debates grow, Signal is likely to shape future standards. Fans call it a cause. Its success puts pressure on other platforms to rethink how they handle user data.

Should you switch?

Signal’s growth shows that many people now treat privacy as a basic expectation. Switching is cheap. The app is free and runs on phones and desktops.

Turn on disappearing messages for sensitive chats and set a registration lock PIN so nobody can take over your number. Then ask the people you talk to most to join you. Encryption only helps if the other person uses it too.

Frank Jones, CISSP

Frank Jones has loved computers from the age of 13. Frank got his hacking career started when he downloaded a war dialing program that he used to detect dial up modems in his hometown of Chicago. Frank Jones now works as a JAVA coder and cyber security researcher.