Signal is an app for Android, iOS and desktop that provides encrypted communication – that is communication that can only be seen by the sender and receiver(s) and not by a third party trying to eavesdrop. Signal is intended to be as easy to use as any other messaging app and has several advantages related to security.
When you sign up, you must provide a phone number. This number is retained by the NGO that runs Signal, so it can be obtained by court order. If you are working in a place that criminalises protest, you do still need to be aware who is in the chat and the legality of what you say.
You can, however, hide your phone number from other people and use a nickname. This provides protection from doxxing – if a homophobe or other bad actor has gotten into the group chat, they don’t have access to identifying information.
To hide your phone number, do to settings, then go to privacy, then go to phone number and change “who can see my number” to “nobody”.
You only have one nickname for all of signal. If you are in multiple chats on the same account, people will be able to recognise your account. This means if you send signal messages to your boss, they will know who you are in the activist chat. But it also means you can see that your boss has joined the activist chat.
Android users can create “chat folders” on their own devices that group together different chats. These are individual to the users and others in the group won’t know that you’ve put them under the heading “amazing comrades” or “liberals.” To create a chat group, go to settings, then chats, then chat folders. This feature is not yet available to iOS users.
Advantages of Signal
Signal does not sell data or monetise your data, which means it’s not trying to discover your data. Other chat platforms that provide end-to-end encryption will still store and monetise your metadata. That is, who you message, how often, from where and when. This allows them to make graphs of who knows each other and what they have in common. The metadata is more useful for this than the actual content.
To take an example of how phone metadata can invade privacy, let’s say you get a message from a GUM clinic. You then message your GP, your spouse, and another person you have been seeing from 6:30-8:30pm every other Wednesday at a cheap hotel.
If you use WhatsApp, it does use GPS data to try to figure out where you’ve been and who you’ve been meeting. This can be used to demonstrate who you know in real life and what protests you’ve been to. Other Meta (the company formerly known as Facebook) apps, like Instagram also try to compile this information. To avoid this, you might consider uninstalling these apps and just using services through the website. And also, consider leaving your phone at home!
On a more fun note, making sticker packs is extremely easy with the Desktop app!
Disadvantages of Signal
The iOS version of Signal has had less development than the Android version and has fewer features.
Some people have problems with notifications not showing. This may be due to having an older version of signal, or not having opened it for a long period.
People who do not have smart phones may find it too difficult to sign up. The desktop client does not work for everyone’s computer.