TORONTO – The encrypted chat app Signal remained offline on Saturday as the company dealt with technical issues amid a surge of new downloads as users fled WhatsApp’s new privacy terms.
Signal is a competitor of Telegram and WhatsApp and uses end-to-end encryption for secure messaging.
The company tweeted Friday that they are experiencing ‘technical issues’ while ‘millions upon millions of new users’ have downloaded their app.
Many of the new users are fleeing WhatsApp and their new privacy terms they announced last week.
WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, has told its two billion users that if they want to continue using their service, they should allow it to share their data with its parent company – in addition to users from the UK and Europe.
WhatsApp said in a blog post that their terms are not new, but simply extended – and that they can not see private messages or hear personal calls – and neither can Facebook.
The rapid exodus of users after their announcement prompted WhatsApp to delay the implementation of their extended privacy terms from the original date of February 8, 2021 to May 15, 2021.
Signal said they are adding new servers and extra capacity to continue with the new peak traffic.