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Secure chat app Signal weekly downloads surge 43 times after WhatsApp’s privacy policy change

Signal, the privacy-first messaging app, is gaining a reputation as WhatsApp’s main competitor.

The secure apps Signal and Telegram are currently experiencing an unexpected hike in their download numbers as recently there was a change to WhatsApp policies, indicating the popular messaging app might share information on Facebook. CNBC reports that Signal installs have approximately reached 7.5 million globally between January 6 and January 10, according to SensorTower research. With Telegram, the situation is not much different, as the app saw 5.6 million global downloads in the same period, according to data from Apptopia.

WhatsApp has published additional information on the changes of the policy, underlining the data shared with Facebook does not include anything from personal chats or groups, and only relates to chats with businesses, and that the app still has end-to-end encryption:

However, many people are still turning to Signal and Telegram, searching to replace WhatsApp as their chat app

Signal is a cross-platform encrypted messaging service that has recently seen an enormous increase in use and downloads so that the company had to add new servers to accommodate the growing number of users. Reportedly, the week between January 6th and January 10th seems to hold the record of weekly or even monthly installs in Signal’s history. The app offers chat features such as groups, message reactions, and even video calls.

Here you can see a comparison done by Forbes using Apple’s App Privacy labels. It might give you a picture of the alleged data that these apps collect about you:

Get Signal Private Messenger from the App Store | Google Play

So, Stay tuned with us for more updates and leaks about the IT industries. Thank you!

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Don't be shy, get in touch. We love meeting interesting learners and making the world's best developers.