Privateness-focused messaging app Signal has truly been flying excessive within the Dutch software outlets this earlier month, resting plenty of days as one of the downloaded and set up complimentary software on iphone and Android for all teams, per data from a number of app-tracking programs such as Sensor Tower.
The appliance has truly skilled rises in attraction with the years, often in motion to policy changes at rivals like WhatsApp or geopolitical events. That is attributable to the truth that Sign has truly gone far for itself as an additional privacy-friendly alternative– it is run by a not-for-profit construction (albeit one primarily based within the united state) versus an unique firm acknowledged for producing revenue from data. Moreover, Sign tracks little or no metadata.
In 2025, with a brand-new united state head of state inspired by Massive Expertise’s cozy settle for, it isn’t unusual that digital private privateness units are having a minute– particularly in Europe, which has attracted President Trump’s ire.
But what’s interesting this second about is Sign’s significance in a single actually particulars place– the Netherlands.
In an interview with Dutch paper De Telegraaf lately, Sign head of state Meredith Whittaker saved in thoughts that the number of “brand-new enrollments” within the Netherlands have been higher this 12 months by a variable of 25, although it is unclear what the exact relative time interval is for this data.
When requested why the Netherlands has truly seen such growth, Whittaker indicated a mixture of features: “Increasing recognition of private privateness, suspect of enormous expertise, and the political reality through which people perceive simply how in danger knowledge will be,” Whittaker acknowledged.
Data provided to TechCrunch from software information firm AppFigures graphes Sign’s surge within the Netherlands. Per its data, it acknowledged that Sign was the 365th rated non-game apple iphone software on January 1 within the Netherlands and it had not been turning up in any manner within the main basic functions itemizing. After that, starting round January 5, it began to climb up the graphes within the Netherlands, and by February 2 it struck main place basic.
Sign has truly dipped out and in of the lead within the interfering weeks, investing round fifty p.c of February up– consisting of each day contemplating that February 22. Digging proper into the knowledge, AppFigures approximates that the general number of downloads all through Apple and Google’s software outlets totaled as much as round 22,000 in December (2024 ). This boosted to 99,000 in January, and after that 233,000 with February– a 958% surge contemplating that December.
Whereas it is possible that just a few of this growth could be credited to Point out having a decreased saturation of downloads contrasted to numerous different markets, the applying’s continuous placement on prime of the graphes about similar-sized close by markets is critical.
” Nothing else markets resemble the Netherlands with regard to growth in between December and February,” AppFigures knowledgeable TechCrunch.
For distinction, the closest are Belgium, which has seen downloads broaden by higher than 250% contemplating that December; Sweden increasing by 153%; and Denmark increasing by 95%.
So why would possibly Point out be experiencing what one Redditor known as a “mass adoption moment” within the Netherlands, significantly?
Clear sign
Rejo Zenger, aged plan professional at Dutch digital civil liberties construction Bits of Freedom, acknowledged that whereas it is robust to establish one particulars issue, he acknowledged he isn’t surprised.
Present growths within the united state have truly seen the big platform providers fall in line behind the brand-new Trump routine, and this has truly fed appreciable public and media dialogue. Europe’s dependence on fashionable expertise coming from large unique united state enterprise has truly been highlighted as a result of dialogue.
” The Dutch are, much like plenty of others, very relying on the amenities provided by very main expertise enterprise, primarily from the united state,” Zenger knowledgeable TechCrunch. “What this means, and the hazards that originate from this, have truly been nicely proven in the last few weeks. Due to this, most people dialogue within the Netherlands has truly been pretty sharp. The place previously this challenge was simply talked about on the diploma of ‘which fast service must I exploit,’ I actually really feel at present we’re having the dialogue on higher levels additionally: ‘we should get rid of this dependency.'”
In that context, most people could be merging supremacy with data protection misuse. With enterprise like Meta persistently being investigated and fined over data private privateness strategies, Sign may present up the minimal wickedness: it is primarily based within the united state, nonetheless run by a charitable that ensures to safe not simply message net content material, but the metadata around it.
Vincent Böhre, supervisor at Dutch private privateness firm Privacy First, moreover indicated a media-driven increase in recognition and a extra complete change in in style opinion.
” Since Trump was re-elected within the united state a few months again, there has truly been a substantial amount of ‘slamming’ of Trump and [Elon] Musk in Dutch– and European– standard media, consisting of slamming of American Huge Expertise enterprise, which at present look like useful of Trump,” Böhre knowledgeable TechCrunch. “Articles slamming X [formerly Twitter] and Meta have truly been showing in Dutch media throughout, deliver a few change in Dutch in style opinion: additionally people that by no means ever truly understood or appreciated private privateness and security in social networks, have at present immediately find yourself being interested in ‘privacy-friendly’ choices, Sign particularly.”
Sign of intent
Whereas the Netherlands is solely one market of 18 million people in a European populace of higher than 700 million, an increase as a result of market alone could be seen as a bellwether for perception all through the continent, directly when federal governments are in search of to scale back private privateness obstacles.
Apple, as an example, these days pulled end-to-end encryption from iCloud within the U.Okay. to reply to federal authorities initiatives to mount a backdoor.
Talking at RightsCon 25 in Taiwan at this time, Whittaker declared a setting she has truly talked about typically occasions in the past: Sign won’t jeopardize on private privateness.
” Sign’s placement on that is actually clear— we will definitely not walk-back, contaminate, or in any other case hassle the sturdy private privateness and security assurances that people depend on,” Whittaker said. “Whether or not that perturbation or backdoor is known as client-side scanning, or the eradicating of the file encryption defenses from one or another features similar to what Apple was pressed proper into finishing up within the U.Okay.”
Individually, in an interview with Swedish public broadcaster SVT, Whittaker acknowledged that it could not give in to a beneficial brand-new Swedish laws needing messaging app-makers to save lots of messages.
” In technique, this means asking us to break the file encryption that’s the construction of our entire firm,” Whittaker acknowledged. “Asking us to save lots of data will surely threaten our entire type and we might definitely by no means ever try this. We choose to go away the Swedish market fully.”
TechCrunch linked to Point out for comment, nonetheless had not listened to again on the time of posting.
