"Two apps -- Signal and Telegram -- are currently the No. 1 and No. 2 free app downloads in Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store. Millions of users flocked to the chat apps in recent weeks, according to data from Apptopia and Sensor Tower. There are a few factors behind the surge.
One is concern over a privacy-policy update for the Facebook Inc.-owned WhatsApp. Meanwhile, the deplatforming of President Trump from social networks following the U.S. Capitol riot has driven people to seek communication tools without moderators and external visibility.
On Jan. 7, Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted, "Use Signal." A subsequent flood of users caused the app's phone-number verification system to break temporarily. Days later, Twitter Inc. CEO Jack Dorsey published a screenshot of Signal at the top of the App Store charts, along with a heart emoji. At the same time, influential accounts on Parler, the social network popular among conservatives, called on followers to move to Telegram.
What do Signal and Telegram have in common? Both are chat apps that offer end-to-end encryption outside of tech companies' grasp. Encrypted messaging apps like Signal and Telegram can offer more security, privacy and features than plain text messaging -- but their encryption methods and data collection vary. WhatsApp and Apple Inc.'s iMessage offer end-to-end encryption, but within their respective ecosystems.
A well-implemented encryption protocol makes messages and calls visible only to the sender and the intended recipient. The message's content looks like gibberish to everyone else, including the app maker, the government and your internet-service provider.
It's important to note that encryption doesn't prevent the recipient from forwarding your message or taking a screenshot, or from someone seeing messages by gaining access to your phone.
Since chat apps aren't compatible with one another, you have to get all your friends, family and colleagues on the same app -- or constantly hop between them." [1]
1. Nguyen, Nicole. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]14 Jan 2021: B.1.
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