Signal CEO criticizes WhatsApp’s data collection: “Metadata is deadly”

Meredith Whittaker, President of the Signal Foundation, has lashed out at WhatsApp’s data collection practices. “It sounds technical, but metadata is deadly.”

In an interview with the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Whittaker discussed the pitfalls of WhatsApp. “WhatsApp collects metadata: who you send messages to, when, and how often. That’s incredibly sensitive information,” she says.

Signal is a communication app that stores very little metadata. The only information the platform collects is the date an account was registered, the time when an account was last active, and hashed phone numbers. Information like call history or location data isn’t saved. Information like profile name and the people a user communicates with is all encrypted.

Storing as little information as Signal does has one major advantage: it leaves less data available for external information requests from law enforcement authorities. In addition, it increases your privacy.

Metadata might sound harmless, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. According to Whittaker, metadata is deadly.

“As a former CIA director once said: ‘We kill people based on metadata.’ It tells you exactly who you’re communicating with, at what time, how often, and where you are. You can derive so much from that. WhatsApp can link that information to Facebook, to Instagram and to payment data that they could buy into. Signal simply doesn’t have all that data,” she said.

As of March 2024, very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs), also known as “designated gatekeepers,” are obligated to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Part of this legislation is that major chat and communication platforms must be interoperable, meaning users must be enabled to send messages from one platform to another.

Whittaker isn’t too concerned that the interoperability demands will mess with Signal’s mission. “Signal hasn’t been told to do anything so far. But if someone wants to link with us, they have to meet our privacy standards first. In any case, we are never going to lower our security,” she solemnly promises.

In a recent interview with De Correspondent, Whittaker emphasized the importance of private and secure communication.

“Without private communication, there’s no military coordination, no good journalism that needs to protect its sources, no human rights work under authoritarian regimes, no confidential conversations in a corporate boardroom. When those things come under pressure, people realize how essential infrastructure like Signal is to ensure that.”