
“Signal is a messaging app, similar to better-known apps like WhatsApp and Telegram. It was founded by privacy and security expert Moxie Marlinspike and WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton. Acton left WhatsApp in 2017 over disagreements with Facebook’s advertising and data collection plans. In 2018, he supported Signal with a $50 million donation and helped launch the Signal Foundation, which aims to create a platform that is completely free of commercial interests and puts privacy at its core.
What really sets Signal apart from other apps is that privacy is the highest priority. Where other apps collect data to generate revenue, for example, Signal is a non-profit that is fully funded by donations (Signal.org). As a result, there are no commercial interests, such as selling user data or showing advertisements.
Signal offers standard features that you are used to in other apps, such as text and group messages, voice calls, temporary messages and file sharing. In addition, Signal uses end-to-end encryption, which means that only you and the recipient can read the content of the conversation. Signal itself has no access to this. It is therefore not surprising that privacy experts, such as Edward Snowden, actively recommend Signal as a messaging app.”