Bonjour les ninja-texteurs 🥷📱—today’s hack is all about Signal, the blue-bubble app your privacy-obsessed friend keeps recommending between sips of café noisette. Here’s the quick tour, no tinfoil hat required.
What is Signal?
Signal is a free, open-source, end-to-end encrypted messenger for texts, calls, and groups. It’s built on the Signal Protocol, the crypto magic also used by WhatsApp and others. (Signal Messenger)
Who owns Signal?
Signal is developed by Signal Messenger LLC, wholly owned by the Signal Technology Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit co-founded by Moxie Marlinspike and WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton (who seeded it with $50M). No ads, no trackers. (Wikipedia)
How safe is it for identity/phone/email privacy?
-
Messages & calls: end-to-end encrypted by default. You can also verify “safety numbers” to be sure you’re talking to the right person. (Wikipedia)
-
What Signal stores: only the technical minimum (tokens/keys to deliver messages)—not your message content. (Signal Messenger)
-
Hiding your phone number: since 2024 you can use a username and control who can discover you by number. (You still register with a phone number.) (Signal Messenger)
-
Metadata protection: “sealed sender” reduces what the server can see about who’s messaging whom (though your IP can still leak during calls unless you relay them). (Signal Messenger)
-
Email privacy: Signal never asks for or uses your email—so there’s nothing to leak there. (Signal Messenger)
-
New(ish): Signal has begun rolling out Secure Backups (opt-in, end-to-end encrypted) to help recover chats if you lose a device. (Signal Messenger)
Tiny FAQ
Do I need a phone number to create an account?
Yes (for now). But you can keep it private from other users with usernames + discovery controls. (EFF SSD)
Can people email me through Signal?
No—Signal doesn’t use email addresses at all. (Signal Messenger)
Is Signal “more private” than WhatsApp?
Different models, but Signal is open-source, nonprofit, and minimizes data collection; it also invented the protocol WhatsApp uses. (Wikipedia)
Sources & further reading
Signal blog & docs on usernames/number privacy, sealed sender, safety numbers, secure backups, legal/privacy, and the protocol. Good primers from EFF and The Verge on safe settings. (Signal Messenger)
Your turn 💬
-
Comment with your Signal username (use the QR or link if you prefer) and say what level you are in French. We’ll start a practice group!
-
A1–A2: Write a 1-sentence intro in French on Signal: « Salut, je m’appelle ___, on se voit au café? »
-
B1–B2: Try disappearing messages. Make plans in French using futur proche: « On se retrouve à 18h, d’accord ? »
-
Advanced: Verify safety numbers with a partner and explain—in French—why it matters.
-
Everyone: Share a quick tip (in EN/FR) that made Signal easier for you.
À vous — and oui, privacy pairs nicely with a tarte tropézienne.