At their core, both apps use cryptography to make sure that the messages, images and videos they carry can only be seen by the sender and the recipient - not governments, spies, nor even the designers of the app itself. But it is increasingly clear that among protesters, dissidents and investigative journalists, Signal is the new gold standard because of how little data it keeps about its users. Signal’s user base - somewhere in the tens of millions, according to app store data - is still a fraction of its main competitor WhatsApp’s, which has some 2 billion users and is owned by Facebook. Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for WIRED What makes Signal different It’s a continuation of our ongoing mission to protect privacy.”īrian Acton speaks at the WIRED25 Summit Novemin San Francisco, California. “I would say that right now it’s just congruent. “I don’t know if I would say more,” he says. Days later, in a blog post titled “Encrypt your face,” the Signal Foundation announced it would begin distributing face masks to protesters, “to help support everyone self-organizing for change in the streets.” Asked if the chaos of 2020 has pushed Signal to become a more outwardly activist organization, Acton pauses. In June, Signal took its most explicitly activist stance yet, rolling out a new feature allowing users to blur people’s faces in photos of crowds. ![]() Read more: Young Activists Drive Peaceful Protests Across the U.S. “Signal and other end-to-end encryption technology have become vital tools in protecting organizers and activists.” “We’re seeing a lot more people attending their first actions or protests this year-and one of the first things I tell them to do is download Signal,” says Jacky Brooks, a Chicago-based activist who leads security and safety for Kairos, a group that trains people of color to use digital tools to organize for social change. (The Signal Foundation, the non-profit that runs the app, doesn’t share official download numbers for what it says are privacy reasons.) In Hong Kong they rose by 1,000% over the same period, coinciding with Beijing’s imposition of a controversial national security law. ![]() between March and August compared to the prior six months, according to data shared with TIME by the analysis firm App Annie, which tracks information from the Apple and Google app stores. Indeed, just as protests against systemic racism and police brutality intensified this year, downloads of Signal surged across the country. It’s like, woohoo, we’re doing great - but the world’s on fire.” “It’s a little bit bittersweet, because a lot of times our spikes come from bad events. “Any time there is some form of unrest or a contentious election, there seems to be an opportunity for us to build our audience,” says Brian Acton, the Signal Foundation’s co-founder and executive chairman, in an interview with TIME. ![]() One of the first things you see when you visit its website is a 2015 quote from the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: “I use Signal every day.” Now, it’s clear that increasing numbers of ordinary people are using it too. Signal is an end-to-end encrypted messaging service, similar to WhatsApp or iMessage, but owned and operated by a non-profit foundation rather than a corporation, and with more wide-ranging security protections. On Signal, being able to communicate efficiently, and knowing that nothing is being tracked, definitely makes me feel very secure.” “We don’t want them to know where we are, so they can’t stop us at any point. “I don’t think anything we say is incriminating, but we definitely don’t trust the authorities,” says Russell. The pair used Signal to discuss tactics, and to communicate with their teams marshalling protestors and liaising with the police. ![]() Within a month, Oleita and Russell had arranged a nonviolent overnight occupation at a detention center on the outskirts of Detroit, in protest against a case where a judge had put a 15 year-old Black schoolgirl in juvenile detention for failing to complete her schoolwork while on probation.
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