Messenger
Whatsapp founder takes on a senior position at Signal
Even if the majority still use WhatsApp, Signal is considered a safe alternative.
© Zacharie Scheurer / Picture Alliance
Billionaire Whatsapp co-founder Brian Acton invested $ 50 million four years ago in developing the Signal Messenger. Now he will initially take over the post of CEO on a temporary basis. What will this change?
One of the most popular Whatsapp alternatives is getting a new boss: After the previous CEO Moxie Marlinspike surprisingly resigned his position at the beginning of the year, Whatsapp co-founder Brian Acton is now taking over the job as interim CEO. Both want to look for a successor, even if Signal already has a real expert on board.
Acton, who founded Whatsapp with Jan Koum in 2009 and sold the Messenger to Meta (then Facebook) for 19 billion US dollars just five years later, is ideal as a figurehead in the fight against his own creation. He has practiced at Meta more than once since it was sold sharp criticism.
Why exactly Acton left Facebook is not known in detail. However, it is likely to be related to the Group’s decisions on the future of the messenger. And for Acton, the departure seems to have been important: with him he waived $ 850 million of outstanding stock options – just a few months before they would have been available.
It is also significant that he chose the Signal, known for his privacy protection, as his new home. Acton is serious about Encryption-specialized Messenger Signal: In 2018, he joined the Signal Foundation with an investment of 50 million US dollars and became Chairman of the Board. In total, the foundation received more than $ 100 million from him. The waiver of hundreds of millions of US dollars and the financing of a competing product clearly show how important it must be for Acton to kill the monster he has created – in part.
“Use Signal” – Elon Musk
The Signal Messenger is often considered to be the method of choice when it comes to switching from WhatsApp. In the spring of 2021, Signal last experienced a strong influx of new users, as the Messenger from Facebook caused a stir and criticism with its new data protection regulations. A tweet from Tesla boss Elon Musk even brought the service to a standstill for a short time, as he explicitly recommended the use of Signal.
The outgoing boss wrote on the company’s blog that after working on Signal for ten years, he had decided that it was time to leave the post. Marlinspike initially programmed the messenger to a large extent single-handedly and now has 30 employees.
The direction in which the encrypted messenger is moving remains open. A successor, should he or she even exist and Acton does not keep the post, is not yet in prospect. Last signal saw a few criticism suspended, because a payment function was added as part of the messenger, which works with the crypto currency Mobilecoin.
According to some IT security experts, this new function, which has nothing to do with composing and receiving messages, jeopardizes the app’s encryption. The theory: Wherever anonymous crypto currencies can be traded, users with criminal intent are not far. That could provoke authorities and accelerate a legally enforced end of encrypted communication, so the fear.
It remains exciting whether Acton, who has always presented himself as a prominent advocate of data protection and security, will react promptly to users’ concerns and reduce the signal in terms of encryption.
Also read:
Signal is the anti-Whatsapp, but can it stay that way in the long run?
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