Signal ..The App

This year started with a tech revelation, Tech world started to shout at WhatsApp abot it’s privacy policy of data sharing, though WhatsApp came with a message that all personal data will kept safe and privacy endured, it’s high time for users to think over the data privacy. There comes the App called Signal, line lighted due to the ongoing privacy issues of WhatsApp. lets see about the signal

Signal was created by the Signal Foundation upon open-source protocols with extremely secure encryption methods. It’s regarded as the most secure among the three, although it may not have some of the cool social features found on the others.

Features:

Signal has all the basic features for direct messaging enabled, including the option to send media, contacts, and location, although file size limits vary depend on what you’re sending. Images are capped at 6MB, while video, audio, and documents are capped at 100MB.

It has a disappearing chat feature that allows messages to disappear any time between five seconds to seven days, and it has the option to send a one-time viewable image that disappears after the recipient views it once.

Signal allows for chat groups up to 1,000 participants, with voice and video calling up to five people allowed.

It can’t be used on a browser, but does have dedicated clients for desktop.Signal allows only local backups, and does not backup content on the cloud.

There is a feature on Signal called “Note to Self” which allows users to basically chat with themselves, and use it very much like a personal notepad.

There is also an incognito mode for the keyboard, and the ability to delete old messages quickly.

While it does not have as many customization options like its rivals (such as stickers and wallpapers), Signal’s developers aim to introduce some of these in the near future.

Security:

Signal’s security measures are best and for a good reason.

It uses the highly-rated Signal Protocol to perform E2E encryption for every single message and call that passes through its servers.

It also encrypts message metadata – something WhatsApp has failed to do – which basically means that absolutely no information regarding a message (including time and place sent) can be intercepted externally.

This is presented in the feature called Sealed Sender, which is an ultra-secret mode of messaging that prevents even Signal from knowing the identities of the sender and receiver and any associated information.

Signal also allows calls made to be relayed from its servers, acting as a sort of virtual private network (VPN) for calls and ensuring a high level of privacy.

There is also the option to block recipients from taking screenshots of a message, and also a feature to allow faces on photos to be blurred before they’re sent.

2FA security is also supported, as is the ability to lock messages with a PIN code or fingerprints.

User Data Collected:

Signal collects only one thing from its users: their phone number.