What is Signal?

Signal Messenger is an ethical and sustainable messaging and calling application that I´ve been happily using as my sole private communication choice since December 2019. It is owned by an independent (not tied to any major tech company) and 501c3 nonprofit foundation called Signal Technology Foundation.

Signal Technology Foundation was founded by Brian Acton (WhatsApp co-founder) and Moxie Marlinspike (cybersecurity scientist), whose mission is to develop privacy- and freedom of expression-focused technology that is accessible to all.

Edward Snowden is an American whistleblower, former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, who in 2013 revealed extensive internet and phone surveillance by US intelligence. Since then he´s lived in asylum in several foreign countries.

Signal members who left Big Tech

WhatsApp founders have decided to leave Facebook Inc (which acquired WhatsApp in 2014) back in 2017/2018, for disagreements with company policies on the use of user data by the applications owned by Facebook Inc. The most popular apps owned by Facebook Inc are Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. By the way, Facebook Inc recently banned Signal ads that aimed to show Facebook Inc users which type of personal data is collected about them to be sold to advertisers. The Signal foundation is against monetization of personal user data, as illustrated below in its first global marketing campaign.

I don´t like Twitter as a company because it shares all kinds of problems inherent to Big Tech, but I do not condemn anyone for using their products – I personally still use a few Big Tech apps because haven't found better alternatives yet.

The third member of the Signal foundation board is a female scientist, Meredith Whittaker, who studies Big Tech and the social implications of artificial intelligence (AI). Meredith worked 13 years for Google, and before resigning from the company co-organized the "2018 Google Walkouts" protest. It mobilized more than 20 000 Google employees worldwide against Google's deprecated culture regarding complaints for sexual misconduct and citizen surveillance. Next are a few examples why Google didn´t seem to care.

What does organizing mean? Check on Investopedia.

Signal features not found on WhatsApp

At least when I checked last January 2021

• Sending messages to yourself (through a fictitious contact named "Note to Self" – search for it on your contact list).
• Calling (incl. video) from your PC, by means of Signal desktop app (downloadable from signal.org/download).
• Using the application when your mobile phone is turned off or doesn't have internet connection. You can achieve that via Signal desktop app, which is synchronized with the mobile counterpart.

Supporting Signal

If you like the Signal project and wanna support it (beyond using the app and spreading the word), you might want to:

• Contribute to the programming code – Signal project is open-source.
• Help translate Signal software.
• Donate (cryptocurrencies allowed).

You might not see the embedded tweets if you are using Brave browser (my favorite too) with shields on.

💯 Signal's new features