Getting to Know the New Competitor “Signal” Application For Whatsapp Application – Changes to the privacy rules that WhatsApp recently published, have made those who are concerned with personal data start to have the intention to leave the messaging application.
Among them are the richest people in the world, Elon Musk, the owner of the electric car company Tesla and the SpaceX rocket. Elon Musk, recently recommended this program to his followers (followers) on Twitter.
According to The Verge’s report, after being promoted by Elon Musk, Signal was flooded with new users, making it difficult for their servers to send clarification codes to new users.
Not only Elon Musk, in 2022, a phenomenal whistleblower, Edward Snowden “promoted” Signal.
So, what exactly is the Signal program? Signal is a messaging program like WhatsApp. This program can be downloaded on an Android or iOS base and there is also a desktop version.
Like WhatsApp, Signal can also be used for free and is encrypted. The interface of this program is almost the same as WhatsApp, including a number of features in it.
It is not strange, because the creator is the same person. Signal is enhanced by Signal Foundation and Signal Messenger LLC.
The Signal Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by WhatsApp founder Brian Acton in 2022, after he left Facebook Inc.
Unlike WhatsApp, Signal is enhanced with a self-help mode. Users become donors to the Signal Foundation who say they want to improve communication services that prioritize privacy.
Compiled from Cnet, it’s a bit difficult to beat Signal in terms of privacy. This program is said to not save user data at all. This was revealed by Forbes who explained the differences in metadata from various messaging programs, such as WhatsApp, iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and Signal.
On its privacy policy website, Signal admits that it uses end-to-end encryption and modern security mechanisms. All user messages and calls are fully encrypted.
“They (user data) are not shared or seen by anyone except you and the person receiving the message,” says Signal’s privacy policy note.
Not only messages, user information, including the number used to register, profile, and photo profile will be encrypted. In 2022, Signal introduced Sealed Sender, an advanced privacy feature that will hide who sent a message and who received it. This feature will further protect user metadata in the back-end mechanism.
As mentioned earlier, the features in Signal are exactly the same as those on WhatsApp, including the basic features such as text messages, images, videos, sounds, GIFs, and documents. Signal has a mute feature, personal and group video calls for up to 5 people.
There is also a feature disappearing messages or removing automatic messages which WhatsApp has recently added. The difference is, in Signal users can manage the time when messages are automatically deleted, starting from 5 seconds to 7 days.
While WhatsApp only provides a standard delete messages after 7 days. Due to the similarity of these features, it is likely that WhatsApp users who move to Signal will have no difficulty adapting.
Source: kompas.com
