Encrypted Signal app downloads skyrocket amidst nationwide protests

When the police state comes knocking, a little bit of privacy goes a long way. 

As peaceful protesters across the nation are repeatedly brutalized by law enforcement, people have turned in record numbers to the encrypted messaging app Signal to protect their conversations. The app, which is free, open source, and run by a nonprofit, has seen huge spikes in downloads over the course of the past week. 

Apptopia, a service that monitors app downloads, told Mashable on Monday that Signal was downloaded 37,000 times this past weekend — a record. What’s more, according to Recode, data from both App Annie and Apptopia show the spike in downloads didn’t slow down. 

Signal has reportedly been downloaded 121,000 times in the US alone, according to Apptopia, since May 25. 

So why is Signal, and app that launched in 2014, having a moment? As these things often go, it’s likely several things coming to head at once. First of all, Signal is end-to-end encrypted. That means that no one, other than the sender and the intended recipient, can read the messages sent over the platform. As privacy scandals dominate the news, especially involving Facebook, people are surely looking for a messaging app that they can trust. Signal is that app. 

But this time around, the concern is not exclusively shady companies like Facebook hoovering up protesters’ data. Rather, now the added concern is police getting access to it. Signal has you covered there, too. 

In 2016, Signal “received a subpoena from the Eastern District of Virginia” requiring it to hand over data on two users of the app. The only information Signal was able to “produce in response to a request like this is the date and time a user registered with Signal and the last date of a user’s connectivity to the Signal service.”

In other words, Signal doesn’t keep data on its users — so it had nothing to turn over. 

What’s more, Signal features like disappearing messages means that, if your phone is seized by police and they force you to unlock it with Touch ID or Face ID (use a passcode, people) then authorities will only be able to access your most recent messages — not all the messages your phone has ever sent or received. 

Signal also offers end-to-end encrypted video and voice calls, and has zero learning curve. In other words, if someone can figure out WhatsApp, iMessage, or any number of other messaging apps, then they can use Signal.  

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Essentially, you have no excuse not to protect your conversations — and more and more people are realizing each passing day that Signal is the way to do just that.