Privacy Tool Spotlight: Signal Messenger
The telephone changed how people connect forever, yet it carries a serious weakness: ordinary phone calls and text messages remain insecure. Calls get intercepted, SMS messages get read by carriers or third parties, and caller IDs get faked without much trouble. High-profile incidents, such as the Salt Typhoon breaches that exposed vulnerabilities in U.S. (Congress.gov) and U.K. (Insidetelecom) telecom infrastructure, remind us how fragile these legacy systems truly are. Those protocols and networks are old, complex, and patched together over decades, so some risks may persist indefinitely.
Switch to Secure Messaging
Private conversations hold value for everyone, from casual check-ins to deeply personal discussions. In today's digital landscape, protecting that privacy has become essential. Signal Messenger steps in as a free, reliable choice that treats privacy as the foundation rather than an add-on. Better yet, it's available for multiple platforms.
Signal delivers the everyday messaging features you already know and use: individual chats, group conversations, voice and video calls, stories, screen sharing, and more. The real difference lies in its uncompromising approach to security and privacy.
Why Signal?
Besides being similar to other messaging apps, there are the core strengths that make Signal stand out:
- End-to-End Encryption by Default : Every message, call, photo, video, and file stays encrypted from sender to recipient. Only the people in the conversation can read or hear the content. Signal applies this protection universally, with no opt-in required. The company itself cannot access your messages or contacts, a claim backed by real-world court cases where minimal data was provided under subpoena (check their transparency page at https://signal.org/bigbrother/ for details).
- Open-Source Code : The entire app and protocol are publicly available for review on GitHub. Security researchers, cryptographers, and developers worldwide examine and improve it constantly. This transparency builds genuine trust and catches potential issues early.
- Minimal Data Collection : Signal gathers almost nothing about you. It avoids the profiling, advertising, and tracking common in other apps. The nonprofit model means no pressure to monetize user data.
Beyond the basics
Signal includes thoughtful privacy tools that give you more control:
- Disappearing Messages : Set messages to vanish automatically after seconds, minutes, hours, or days. This reduces your digital footprint over time.
- Perfect Forward Secrecy : Even if encryption keys get compromised later, past conversations remain protected.
- Sealed Sender : Signal's servers cannot see who sent a message to whom, adding strong metadata protection.
- Safety Number Verification : Compare safety numbers with contacts to confirm you are talking to the intended person and rule out man-in-the-middle attacks.
- Cross-Platform Support : Use Signal securely on Android, iOS, desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux), and linked devices without sacrificing encryption.
Recent updates keep Signal evolving while staying true to its mission. The app now offers secure backups (opt-in, encrypted, with options for cloud or local storage), enhanced quantum-resistant cryptography to guard against future threats, pinned messages for keeping important notes visible, and an improved interface (including the Liquid Glass design on newer iOS versions). User growth surged in 2025 after high-visibility events highlighted its reliability, and independent reviews from sources like PCMag (which awarded it Editors' Choice and named it the best overall secure messaging app in their 2026 roundup), ZDNET (ranking it the best private messaging app of 2026), and Proton (providing a very robust, candid and unbiased overview) continue to rank it as a top choice for private messaging.
Consider Switching to Signal
Signal is not built for anonymity in the sense of hiding your identity entirely (it requires any phone number that can accept verification texts for registration, though usernames now let you connect without sharing that number). Instead, it excels at making sure your communications stay confidential between you and the people you choose.
If you do decide to try Signal, we highly suggest following the configuration guide from Privacy Guides at https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2022/07/07/signal-configuration-and-hardening/ for the best setup possible.
Switching to Signal gives your daily conversations the protection they deserve. As the old phrase puts it, some things should stay just between you, me, and the fence post.
Remember: we may not have anything to hide, but everything to protect.
