Signal and Telegram seeing huge waves of new users amid WhatsApp privacy row

Privacy conscious smartphone users are opting for Telegram and Signal messaging apps to chat and communicate as the most popular messaging app, WhatsApp, has explicitly mentioned sharing data with parent company Facebook.

Downloads of Signal app have seen a 79% increase from India during the period January 1 to January 6 compared to December 26 to December 31, data from app analytics firm Sensor Tower showed.

Telegram, though more popular in India, only saw a marginal increase during the six-day period compared to the week before that. Telegram’s download ranking on Google Play, however, steadily rose over the past few days, Sensor Tower said.

The downloads of Signal were likely fuelled by Elon Musk and whistleblower Edward Snowden’s endorsement on Twitter. Users flocked to the app so much so that Signal’s server could not handle the requests for phone number verifications of new accounts.