(C) Alec Muffett's DropSafe blog.
Author Name: Alec Muffett
This story was originally published on allecmuffett.com. [1]
License: CC-BY-SA 3.0.[2]


Signal Is More Than Encrypted Messaging. Under Meredith Whittaker, It’s Out to Prove Surveillance Capitalism Wrong

2024-08-28 10:00:00+00:00

Right. And what phase is Signal in now?

Now Signal is established critical infrastructure for militaries, for dissidents, for journalists, for CEOs, for anyone who has private confidential information.

So I think we’re in a different place, where we need to be out there. We can’t have our story told by proxies. It’s time to define it for ourselves.

Well, before we get to that story: You’ve been spending the summer in Paris. Why Europe? Why France? Is that a Meredith thing, or is that a Signal thing?

It’s a Signal thing. We’re focusing on the EU, and growing our market, and figuring out who potential partners could be.

I think it’s good for any tech company right now to be thinking, how can we be flexible, given that we’re looking at a very volatile geopolitical environment.

Are you saying you’re looking for an escape route, in the event of a second Trump administration?

It’s more than that. There are a lot of possible futures on the table right now.

Let me just ask it this way: There’s an election coming up in the US. Are you thinking about a new administration, Democrat or Republican, and the possibility that Signal needs to find a new home?

My answer to that would be, I think we’re always aware of shifting political sands. Given that governments in the US and elsewhere have not always been uncritical of encryption, a future where we have jurisdictional flexibility is something we’re looking at.

Does it really make sense to look for that kind of jurisdictional flexibility in Europe when Telegram founder Pavel Durov was just arrested in France? Does this give you pause about Signal’s future in the EU?

Well, to start: Telegram and Signal are very different applications with very different use cases. Telegram is a social media app that allows an individual to communicate with millions at once and doesn't provide meaningful privacy or end-to-end encryption. Signal is solely a private and secure communications app that has no social media features. So we're already talking about two different things.

And as of today [August 27, 2024] there are simply too many unanswered questions and too little concrete information about the specific rationale behind Durov’s arrest for me to give you an informed opinion. On the broader question, let's be real: There's no state in the world that has an unblemished record on encryption. There are also champions of private communications and expression everywhere in the world—including many in the French government and in Europe beyond. Those of us who’ve been fighting for privacy for the long term recognize that this is a persistent battle, with allies and adversaries everywhere. Trying to prioritize flexibility is not the same thing as idealizing one or another jurisdiction. We're clear-eyed about the waters we need to navigate, wherever they are. We see a huge amount of support and opportunity in Europe.
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[1] URL: https://www.wired.com/story/meredith-whittaker-signal/
[2] URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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