Signal had about 7.5 million installations globally from the App Store and Google Play between Thursday and Sunday, more than 43 times the installations it received the previous week, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
Encrypted messaging services like Signal have gained popularity in recent years, as people are increasingly concerned with protecting their private information. However, this specific increase in Signal’s popularity comes in the wake of confusion over the updated notification terms of Facebook’s encrypted messaging service, WhatsApp.
Signal also received endorsements last week from several of the biggest names in Silicon Valley, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
The jump in new Signal downloads has also followed the riots in Washington DC and Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOGL) to cut ties with Parler, the social networking service preferred by members of the far right. Telegram, another encrypted messaging app on Tuesday, said it attracted 25 million new users from around the world in the previous 72 hours, bringing its total active user base to 500 million.
The huge spike in Signal traffic caused some crashes. Thursday sign
tweeted that verification codes for new user registrations can be delayed “because so many new people are trying to sign in now (we can barely register our enthusiasm).” The problem was resolved over the weekend.
“We are currently experiencing a record level of downloads of the Signal app worldwide,” the Signal team said in a Reddit post on Friday.
What’s going on with WhatsApp?
WhatsApp started notifying users last month about its updated terms of service and privacy policy, which people must agree to continue using the app after February 8.
Many users have expressed concern about a section of WhatsApp’s privacy policy that details what user data is collected and shared with parent company Facebook, which has a problematic reputation when it comes to protecting user data.
All private messages between individuals and most companies on WhatsApp are protected by end-to-end encryption, which means that the application cannot view or share them with Facebook (users will be notified before chatting with a company where messages are not end-to-end encrypted). But WhatsApp collects other user information, such as how and when someone uses the app, and information from the user’s device, such as IP addresses.
WhatsApp’s privacy policy states that the user information it collects may be shared with other Facebook companies “to help operate, provide, improve, understand, personalize, support and market our services and offers.”
However, these data sharing practices are not new, according to the company.
Here’s what’s changed: WhatsApp privacy was updated globally for the last time in 2016. At the time, it offered WhatsApp users the option to cancel data sharing with Facebook, an option that was available for a short period of time. time. In this latest update, the reference to that expired cancellation option has been removed.
The most significant policy update is related to corporate WhatsApp users. It reveals that companies that using WhatsApp to talk to customers you can choose to store logs of your conversations on Facebook hosting services.
“The update does not change the data sharing practices of WhatsApp with Facebook and does not affect the way people communicate privately with friends or family wherever they are in the world,” said a WhatsApp spokesman in a statement. , adding that the company remains “deeply committed to protecting people’s privacy.”
In short: no additional WhatsApp user data will be shared with Facebook after accepting the new terms that were shared before. That is, unless you took advantage of the opt-out in 2016.
WhatsApp has tried to dispel confusion about the updated policy, including posting a FAQ about its privacy practices.
Why signal?
Although the policy is not new, the discussion drew attention to WhatsApp’s data sharing practices with Facebook, which many people may not have read before clicking “agree”. This may be encouraging users to abandon the ship, with Signal proving to be the most popular alternative.
Signal is another free application that provides encrypted messages, calls and video chat. “Encrypted” means that the content of messages is encrypted until it reaches the recipient and no intermediary can view it. The app is managed by the non-profit Signal Foundation, which was launched in 2018 with the help of WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, who left WhatsApp and Facebook the previous year.
Acton said in a 2018 statement, announcing the launch of the foundation, that Signal aims to build “sustainable technology that respects users and does not depend on the commodification of personal data”.
Amid the wave of new registrations, Signal is
launching new features similar to WhatsApp, like wallpaper backgrounds for chats and an “about” section for user profiles. And a new
Apple (AAPL) The policy that requires apps to provide a label detailing their privacy practices on the App Store can make it easier for users to compare various messaging app policies.
Signal did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the rush for new applications.
The application received some high-level endorsements.
Tesla (TSLA)‘s Musk on January 7
tweeted: “Use signal.”
Twitter (TWTR) CEO Jack Dorsey
retweeted that and then
posted an image of Signal at the top of the App Store chart, with a caption with a heart.
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden also
retweeted Musk’s post, adding the message: “This is @signalapp, for those who don’t speak Elon.”
Although their tweets did not mention Facebook or WhatsApp, both Musk and Dorsey had previously criticized the social media giant.
Some people were apparently confused by Musk’s advice. Actions of Signal Advance (SIGL) – a small Texas-based technology company unrelated to the messaging app – increased by more than 6,000% in the days following Musk’s tweet, before declining on Tuesday.
Signal, the messaging app, posted a cheeky tweet about the confusion, saying, “Is that what stock analysts mean when they say the market is showing mixed signals?”
