Signal

WhatsApp Privacy Policy is a Big Gain for Signal Private Messenger

WhatsApp is in the news for all the bad reasons. The recent Privacy Policy update issued by the company has turned out to be very bad for the company’s future. The Facebook-owned messenger revealed that the company could access your data and share with Facebook. This clause has sparked a negative mindset about the company among the tech-savvy community.

The only way out to address the new Privacy Policy is to switch to alternative apps. If you don’t know, Signal has become very popular after a one-word tweet by Tesla Founder Elon Musk. Musk tweeted with “Signal” and the entire world has taken over the app. The change in the Privacy Policy has forced users to look for alternative solutions, which not only safeguard their data but also ensure ease of usage.

According to analytics, Signal has beaten WhatsApp on the App Store and is currently on the number one spot under “top free apps” on the Google Play Store. WhatsApp is sitting in the second position for reasons that could have been avoided. However, we infer that Facebook is facing an acute financial crunch due to COVID-19 and the messenger is planning to incorporate ads to sustain. Hence, disclosure of the new privacy policy was the need of the hour.

Even though Telegram is available, people are changing to Signal as part of the hype. The private messaging app has been experiencing huge spike in the traffic since the last two days and is expected to grow. The company also faced downtime for a short time because of the huge traffic. The delivery of OTPs was affected to a large extent. However, the foundation managed to beat all odds and the app is functioning well. The app makers would not have expected this jump in traffic all of a sudden. We signed up yesterday without any problem.

The Signal app is available via GitHub Open Source platform and has been developed by the Signal Foundation and Signal Messenger in 2014. The app was developed under the leadership of Moxie Marlinspike with the active involvement of WhatsApp founder Brian Acton. It was Brian who founded Signal along with Marlinspike. It is to be noted that Signal also makes use of end-to-end encryption functionality similar to that of WhatsApp.

With the help of Signal, you can send and receive messages including the ability to make HD voice/video calls. You can make use of emojis, images, videos, and a dedicated image editor. The app also comes with Dark Mode, Disappearing messages, support for regional languages, and much more. You can work with Signal using Android/iOS smartphones, Windows laptops, iPad, and Linux platforms.

The foundation has thrown open the source code on GitHub. You can use them to study the way in which the app is being developed. The data encryption, just like WhatsApp is an advantage and the app collects only minimal data. Signal prompts you to enter phone number during the registration process to deliver the OTP. According to the privacy policy, the Signal Foundation has made it clear that the app won’t store private and sensitive data. However, the app admits that it could share data with third-party companies to make certain services.

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