Signal takes its encryption promises seriously, just how seriously- this was explained by Signal’s president Meredith Whittaker in an interview with Verge. She talked about various things in the interview but her claims for Signal being devoted to privacy and treating end-to-end encryption as its mission is what is worth highlighting. Signal is designed to prevent anyone in between the sender and receiver from accessing data exchanged on the app.
In the times when private data is always at risk of tracing and privacy has been reduced to a myth, Signal, “truly private” end-to-end encrypted messaging service offers a fully secure messaging platform using its cryptographic protocol. This same protocol is also used by companies like Facebook and WhatsApp.
is seen as a more secure and reliable alternative to apps like WhatsApp and Messenger. The company says it goes to great lengths to keep user’s data private and collect as little data as possible.
While many privacy lovers and advocates love the fact that apps like Signal offer a secure and private messaging platform, governments across the globe, including India dislike these messaging apps for its encrypted nature. Whittaker during the interview said that Signal would walk out than to hand over its encryption keys. She further explained that the app is built in such a way that it does not have access to those keys.
Signal has been effectively blocked in China. Upon being asked if Signal would ever try back to enter China, Whittaker said that Signal will never compromise. “If encryption is broken, it is broken. If Signal doesn’t keep its privacy promises, then there is no real point for us to exist as a nonprofit whose sole mission is to provide a safe, private, pleasant place for messaging and communication in a world where those are vanishingly few and far between,” she said.
