While SignalGate may be a pretty big “oopsie” for US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, National Security Advisor Mike Walz, and Vice President JD Vance, it’s kudos to this mighty messaging app that Signal could so casually be trusted for something as sensitive as war plans to attack Yemen’s Houthi militia.
I mean, hello, it’s a bombing party everyone! Come join the chat, and don’t forget to bring your favorite journalist!
In defense of Signal
In no way do I want to defend a breach in national security protocol, but Signal deserves a shout out.
I first came across this messaging app when I briefly dated a military guy I met in a line outside an airplane bathroom while flying from London to Washington DC. For over an hour we chatted while people came and went until finally I pointed to the loo and said, “You know, I really do have to go.”
We finished the flight sitting next to each other talking about our childhoods. He grew up in the former USSR, in an Eastern European country where his mom started his school day with a shot of vodka to guard against the cold. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the United States Army scooped up this quad-lingual, beautifully buffed specimen of a man to work in Special Forces in covert areas he could not and did not share with me. I loved the intrigue of it.
We agreed to stay in contact - with his caveat that our continued communications must be through Signal, the only messaging app trusted and approved by the US Military.
I learned the hard way messages could disappear on Signal when I went to show a photo of my gorgeous new contact, and it had already vanished. I kicked myself for not having taken screenshots. (A mistake Scandal-gate journalist Jeff Goldberg from The Atlantic made sure not to make.)
A privacy focused app
I’ve used Signal ever since. With privacy at it’s core, the app offers an end-to-end encrypted messaging service that supports texts, voice calls, and video calls. You can securely and safely send most anything to anyone on Signal including images, videos, files, voice notes and pdfs.
“No ads. No trackers. No kidding” says Signal’s homepage. As an independent nonprofit, it receives funding from grants and donations - not big Tech. You’re not sacrificing your privacy like you do with Meta’s WhatsApp.
Why Signal's MUCH better than WhatsApp
In contrast, Meta, the parent company not only of WhatsApp, but also Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads, has a dismal track record respecting individual privacy and plunders personal information with breathtaking entitlement. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s, ahem, emperor, may not have actually said “Privacy is dead,” but he certainly models it. (Side Note: If you want your Insta and data, too, check out TOPSY TURVY: Meta)
Like Signal, WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption, but unlike Signal, you pay for this service with your contact list. Yes, you heard correctly, your contact list. Meta, through WhatsApp, vacuums up the names, phone numbers, emails and nicknames (what does that even mean?) of every contact in your address book and - get this - it uploads them continuously.
That’s right. CONTINUOUSLY.
Let’s say I meet you at the networking event ‘XYZ What’s In It For Me.’ We then exchange contact information, and I add it to my phone’s address book. If I use WhatsApp, your contact information is uploaded to Meta.
Perhaps you say who cares. Doesn’t Meta already have my contact information? Well, yes, if you use Facebook or Insta or Threads it does. However, now Meta knows that you and I are connected, and if we have our location settings on, where we met. It can compare my contacts to yours to determine how intimately our lives intertwine and then adds these details to the granular profiles it has on each of us to serve us with hyper-specific individualized ads.
It makes one miss the ROLODEX!
Trending: Signal
Since the SignalGate fall out, Signal has had the most downloads ever, according to WIRE magazine. This is a bandwagon you definitely should jump on.
Quit WhatsApp. Join me on Signal.
This PSA has been made possible by the carelessness of the United States National Security Advisor, the Secretary of Defense, and the texting thread that will live on in ignominy.
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Down the Rabbit Hole
Curious? Check out my references:
- The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me its War Plans - Jefferey Goldberg, THE ATLANTIC, March 24, 2025.
- SignalGate is Driving the Most US Downloads of Signal Ever - Andy Greenberg, WIRED, March 27, 2025.
- Facebook’s Zuckerberg Says the Age of Privacy is Over - Marshall Kirpatrick, NEW YORK TIMES, January 10, 2010.
- FACEBOOK CEO Mark Zuckerberg TechCrunch Interview At the 2010 Crunchies
- Don’t know what a ROLODEX is? Check it out. March 29, 2025
Disclaimer: The above is solely intended for informational purposes and in no way constitutes legal advice or specific recommendations.
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PrivacyMatters2u - s.c.halleen - March 29, 2025
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