12 Signal App Tips for Secure Chats
What Is Signal?
Signal is an end-to-end encrypted messaging app, which is a complicated way of saying that only the device sending the message and the device receiving it can see the content of messages. If the cops want access to your chats, messages, or files, they'll need direct access to your device because Signal has no record of them.
"We’ve designed the Signal service to minimize the data we retain about Signal users, so the only information we can produce in response to a [law enforcement] request...is the date and time a user registered with Signal and the last date of a user’s connectivity to the Signal service," the app maker said in 2016.
This can be helpful for people who work with sensitive content, like journalists, organizers, or those living under repressive regimes. But it's a double-edged sword, as this level of secrecy on Signal and similar apps can also give cover to bad actors.
You can read all the tips here.