Signal has more than 2 million active users in the Netherlands. This was confirmed to de Volkskrant by Jun Harada, Head of Growth and Partnerships at Signal.
Signal has experienced significant growth in the Netherlands this year. Back in May, research by Telecompaper already indicated that Signal had surpassed 2 million users in the country, and this has now been officially confirmed.
In March, we had the scoop that the Netherlands had become a top-5 country for Signal, alongside much larger countries such as the United States, Germany, India, and Ukraine.
These figures explain why WhatsApp felt compelled to launch a charm offensive in the Netherlands. WhatsApp tried to convince Dutch users that it is just as privacy-friendly as Signal. Those misleading statements by WhatsApp head Will Cathcart were quickly debunked by Signal president Meredith Whittaker.
Signal far more privacy-friendly than WhatsApp
Signal is the privacy-focused alternative to WhatsApp from Meta. Unlike Signal, WhatsApp può vedere molte cose su di te: your profile picture, personal information, group names, and descriptions of your communities and groups.
WhatsApp is also adding more and more non-encrypted features to the app, such as channels and Meta AI, which cannot be disabled. With these kinds of features, Meta collects a large amount of data about you and your contacts. Experts and the Dutch Data Protection Authority have expressed strong criticism of Meta AI in WhatsApp.
Signal remains free and ad-free
As WhatsApp is in the process of introducing ads into the app, Signal emphasizes that it will remain free and ad-free.
Signal è una organizzazione non profit, with no shareholders or commercial interests. The app is mainly funded through donations and is developing a freemium model for Backup di Signal. This feature involves significant additional costs. Local backups and cloud backups of text and recent media will remain free, but for a full backup of all your media, a small cost-covering fee will be charged.
Don’t have Signal yet? Scarica Signal gratuitamente tramite il tuo app store!
