Whatsapp Vs Signal App | Whatsapp Not Safe | Elon Musk Supports Signal App | Facebook Data Sharing
World’s richest person Elon Musk is asking people to switch to a messaging app called Signal over WhatsApp and Facebook due to a change their policy which has raised privacy concerns.
Tesla CEO Musk appealed to people to switch to more encrypted apps than WhatsApp and Facebook and specifically mentioned Signal when asked about a safer alternative by his followers.
Musk’s tweet comes after Signal and Telegram messaging apps are seeing a sudden increase in demand due larger rival WhatsApp’s updated terms of service raised eyebrows on social media.
WhatsApp, which uses Signal’s encryption technology, laid out fresh terms on Wednesday, asking users to agree to let owner Facebook Inc and its subsidiaries collect user data, including their phone number and location.
Some privacy activists questioned the “accept our data grab or get out” move on Twitter, and suggested users to switch to apps like Signal and Telegram.
Signal’s popularity shot up further on Thursday after it was endorsed by Elon Musk, who has one of the most-followed accounts on Twitter and by the micro-blogging site’s top boss Jack Dorsey.
More than 100,000 users installed Signal across the app stores of Apple and Google in the last two days, while Telegram picked up nearly 2.2 million downloads, according to data analytics firm Sensor Tower.
New installs of WhatsApp fell 11 per cent in the first seven days of 2021 compared with the prior week, but that still amounted to an estimated 10.5 million downloads globally, Sensor Tower said.
Amid the WhatsApp-Facebook furore, the one app that has come out shining on top is Signal. As the outrage against WhatsApp’s latest policy of sharing data with Facebook has grown fiercer, Signal continues to climb up the charts. In a tweet, the app said that it has become the No. 1 downloaded app in the free apps category on App Store. Not only India, it became the top downloaded app in Germany, France, Austria, Finland, Hong Kong, and Switzerland as well.
Signal said it is seeing such a surge in new users that it is witnessing delays in phone number verifications of new accounts. Signal’s jump in the charts has come due to Elon Musk’s endorsement as well as the WhatsApp outrage.
Musk had tweeted on January 7: “Use Signal” to his 41.5 million followers. The Tesla CEO has also been vocal in his criticism of Facebook. He recently tweeted an image of a man stacking dominoes. The first of the dominoes, referring to Facebook, read “a website to rate women on campus” and the last of the dominoes said “the Capitol seems to be under the control of a man in a viking hat”.
The app is available on Android and iOS and also on iPad. Windows, Linux and Mac users can also download the app. It is now being seen as a mobile messaging app as well as an alternative to the Facebook ecosystem.
It is being used extensively by activists, journalists, lawyers, researchers, security experts as well as dissidents. It is backed by the likes of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and American whistleblower Edward Snowden
Signal, that goes with the tagline “Say hello to privacy” has been around 2014. It was developed by Signal Foundation and Signal Messenger LLC, a non-profit company. The Signal Foundation was created by WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton and Signal Messenger CEO Moxie Marlinspike. Acton left WhatsApp in 2017 and donated $50 million to help fund Signal.
#signal #signalapp #whatsapp #elonmusk #twitter
by Aamir Thefoodietraveler
linux foundation
