History of Signal
Signal is a private messaging app developed by the non-profit Signal Foundation and Signal Messenger LLC. It was created by Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton to provide secure, end-to-end encrypted communication. The app's roots trace back to 2010, when Marlinspike founded Whisper Systems, which developed the RedPhone (for encrypted calls) and TextSecure (for encrypted messages) apps. After Twitter acquired Whisper Systems in 2011, Marlinspike left and later, in 2013, co-founded Open Whisper Systems, which further developed Signal’s encryption technology.
In 2018, Brian Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp, left Facebook and invested $50 million to establish the Signal Foundation, ensuring Signal remained independent and free from commercial interests. Over time, Signal gained popularity as a privacy-focused alternative to WhatsApp and other messaging apps. It saw major spikes in users during global privacy concerns, such as WhatsApp’s policy updates in 2021. Today, Signal remains a widely trusted platform for secure communication, advocating for digital privacy and encryption.