Signal is a messaging app (available on mobile and desktop) that supports text chats, voice and video calls, group chats, file sharing and some additional privacy-features. All communications are end-to-end encrypted, meaning that only the participants can read or hear them (not Signal or third parties).
If you care about privacy, want minimal data collected about you, and want a communication channel that isn’t monetized via ads or user-data mining, Signal offers a strong choice. It’s widely recommended for journalists, activists, privacy-conscious users and organizations.
For a founder/marketer/engineer: using Signal means you’re less exposed to data-leaks, third-party access, and less reliant on large tech platforms that monetize data.
You install Signal, register (by default) with a phone number, and you then link your device(s). Your messages/calls are encrypted using the open-source “Signal Protocol”. The servers know very little: they relay encrypted data, help with contact discovery, but they do not hold plaintext messages.
You can set disappearing messages, blur faces in photos, lock the app with a PIN/biometric, and fine-tune privacy settings.
