- Encrypted messenger app Signal has appointed Meredith Whittaker, a former Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) as its first President, adding to the roster of tech critics leading the encrypted messaging app, the Washington Post reports.
- The Google manager has been outspoken about the harms of Big Tech.
- Signal is committed to encryption in an industry built on collecting personal data.
- Also Read: Signal Founder Details Messaging App’s Superiority Over Telegram Amid Ukrainian Crisis; Elon Musk Chimes In With His Preferences
- Non-profit-backed Signal competes against WhatsApp and iMessage, championed by Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).
- Whittaker looks to focus on sustaining Signal, which hopes to support itself with small donations from millions of users.
- “It costs tens of millions of dollars per year to develop and maintain an app like Signal,” she said.
- Whittaker says that the only way to escape technology that makes money off your data is by paying for products that don’t.
- Whittaker, a member of Signal’s board since 2020, rose to prominence for worker activism at Google before it ousted her.
- Most recently, Federal Trade Commissioner Lina Khan tapped Whittaker as a senior adviser on AI.
- The app experienced a massive spike in downloads last year during a privacy backlash after WhatsApp changed its policy on data collection on user interactions with businesses.
- Signal currently has 140.9 million downloads across the App Store and Google Play.
- She said that Signal is not interested in increasing profit or attention on ads but instead creating a network effect of encrypted communication.
- Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) chief Elon Musk praised Signal and recommended that Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) have end-to-end encryption for its direct messages to ensure security.
- Unlike Signal and Whatsapp, Twitter’s direct messages are not end-to-end encrypted.
What Georgia’s Senate Runoff Election Means For The Markets
Today's runoff election in Georgia between incumbent Democrat Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker is expected to have a direct effect on the stock market.
