Messaging and chat platforms are well cemented into our individual workflows.
Between WhatsApp and Slack, I already have family groups and work chats segregated between two separate platforms. Meanwhile, I also maintain a Telegram account for my gaming group.
But over time, I’ve been doubting my choice of platforms.
The conversations that were most personal to me were on WhatsApp, which is a platform owned by Meta. And as we all know, Meta treats privacy as a feature, not really a foundation.
So, over the last few months I’ve been moving all my personal chats over to Signal.
While Signal doesn’t get quite as much attention as it used to a few years ago, it still remains a solid platform for the task at hand.
Moreover, I wanted to switch to a platform that was built to be private by default. Fewer metadata captures, no cloud backups that were likely being intercepted, and fewer assumptions about how the platform was about to use my data.
I wanted a clean break, and Signal helped me achieve that better than I could’ve imagined.
Signal’s new sync feature will finally transfer your existing messages to desktop
No more fresh starts
Privacy by default
Practical safeguards that add up
Today, most messaging apps claim to use encryption. And that’s true — somewhat.
In most cases, that encryption covers the message content, but not the information around the message. Things like who you talk to, what time you talk to them, how often and how long you talk to them. That information is just as revealing as the content itself.
I don’t have anything to hide, but I’m not comfortable with the idea of a messaging app running constant surveillance on me.
Signal’s approach differs from other chat apps. For one, messages are encrypted by default, and encrypted end to end. There’s no need for a secret chat, nor do you need to figure out things like locked chats. That helps build trust that everything is secure by default.
Every one-to-one chat and group conversation is protected out of the box. That takes user error out of the equation and is a net positive all around.
But that’s just step one. To further bolster privacy, the first thing we did after setting up our group was enable disappearing messages. Again, not that we had something to hide, but because a lot of our banter doesn’t need to clutter up chats forever.
A few days tends to be enough to dig out old jokes or plans and the messages simply vanish after the time limit on everyone’s device.
Signal also allows us to control screenshots on Android while also offering screen security features. Nothing that we talk about requires that level of control, but if you need it, the feature is built in.
However, the feature that I appreciate a lot is the registration lock. It adds an extra pin requirement if someone tries to register my number on a different device. That goes a long way towards reducing the risk of SIM swap attacks.
Finally, there’s the matter of backups. While many, if not, most messaging apps default to cloud backups, Signal handles backups locally and lets you encrypt them with a passphrase.
Yes, that means additional work in keeping your passphrases safe, but it also means that nobody can ever snoop on your backups. That’s a win in my books. These simple features go a long way towards guaranteeing your privacy.
Everyday use without compromises
Small features that make a big difference
The real test of any new tool, and especially a privacy tool, is if people actually stick to it. People like convenience and familiarity, and if the tool is convenient, they’ll just stop using it. I’m glad to say that’s not the case with Signal.
We’ve used Signal for everything from trip planning to sharing documents and having regular conversations, and the app has handled itself no differently than WhatsApp.
Group chats are friction free, and you get the usual array of admin controls that let you manage who can add new members and who can change group names or photos.
Elsewhere, we haven’t faced issues with voice or video calls. It performed much better than we expected.
I’ve also discovered other features that I wasn’t aware of. If we’re sharing a group photo, Signal gives us an option to blur out phases if we choose. That’s a minor thing, but surprisingly handy.
For example, if I’m sharing a screenshot or a photo of myself, I can now blur out the phases of other people if I don’t have their permission to share images ahead.
I’ve also found the desktop app easy to integrate into my everyday use. I can reply from my laptop with the same level of security.
While my move to Signal was driven by a search for a more private tool, it’s led me to a better chat app.
Signal solves privacy with concrete solutions. There’s reduced metadata exposure, easy disappearing messages, end-to-end encryption by default and even local backups.
And most importantly, it does all of this without requiring much thinking on the user’s end.
