Signal Foundation

Who owns Signal Foundation?
Signal Foundation is an independent non-profit organization with no owners. It operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit governed by a board of directors. The foundation cannot be owned by shareholders or acquired by other entities. This structure ensures that Signal's incentives are aligned with user privacy rather than profit maximization.

Is Signal Foundation publicly traded?
No, Signal Foundation is not publicly traded. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, it cannot issue stock or be traded on public markets. The organization is funded through donations and the initial endowment from Brian Acton. Signal Foundation's annual IRS filings are publicly available, providing transparency into its finances.

Who founded Signal Foundation?
Signal Foundation was co-founded in February 2018 by Moxie Marlinspike, creator of the Signal messaging application and the Signal Protocol, and Brian Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp. Acton provided the initial $50 million funding commitment, later increased to $100 million, after leaving Facebook over disagreements about WhatsApp's data sharing with Facebook.

Who is the CEO of Signal?
Meredith Whittaker serves as President of Signal Foundation, a role she has held since 2022. Whittaker previously worked at Google for 13 years and co-founded the AI Now Institute at New York University. Moxie Marlinspike, who created Signal and served as CEO of Signal Messenger, stepped down from that role in January 2022.

How does Signal make money?
Signal does not make money in the traditional sense. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Signal Foundation is funded through donations from individuals and organizations who support its privacy mission, along with the initial $100 million endowment from Brian Acton. Signal does not display advertising, charge subscription fees, or sell user data. The application is free to download and use.

How many people use Signal?
Signal has more than 50 million monthly active users globally as of 2026. The app experienced a significant surge in new users in January 2021 following WhatsApp's privacy policy changes, and user growth has continued driven by increasing privacy concerns and awareness of data collection practices by commercial technology platforms.

The history of Signal Foundation is closely tied to the development of Signal, the encrypted messaging application, and the Signal Protocol.

Signal's origins trace to 2010, when Moxie Marlinspike and Stuart Anderson founded Whisper Systems, a company that developed encrypted communication tools for Android. Whisper Systems was acquired by Twitter in 2011, and Marlinspike worked at Twitter briefly before leaving to continue developing secure communication tools independently.

In 2013, Marlinspike founded Open Whisper Systems, a non-profit software development group that developed TextSecure (encrypted SMS) and RedPhone (encrypted voice calls). These applications were merged into Signal in 2014, creating a single encrypted messaging application for text, voice, and video communication.

The Signal Protocol, developed by Marlinspike and Trevor Perrin, became the foundation for Signal's end-to-end encryption. The protocol was notable for its security properties, including forward secrecy and post-compromise security. The protocol was subsequently adopted by WhatsApp in 2016, Facebook Messenger in 2016, Google Messages, and other major messaging platforms, making it the most widely deployed encryption protocol in consumer messaging.

In February 2018, Signal Foundation was established by Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton. Acton had co-founded WhatsApp in 2009 and sold it to Facebook in 2014 for approximately $19 billion. Acton left Facebook in 2017, reportedly over disagreements about monetizing WhatsApp users' data and the increasing integration of WhatsApp with Facebook's advertising infrastructure. He committed $50 million, later increased to $100 million, to establish Signal Foundation, providing the organization with long-term financial stability without dependence on advertising or data monetization.

The foundation was created to address the challenge of maintaining a privacy-focused messaging service without the commercial pressures that typically drive technology companies. By operating as a non-profit, Signal Foundation could prioritize user privacy and security over profit maximization.

In 2018, Signal Foundation established Signal Messenger LLC as a subsidiary to handle the technical development and maintenance of the Signal application and protocol. This structure allows the foundation to focus on its mission while the LLC handles operational aspects.

In January 2021, Signal experienced a massive surge in new users following WhatsApp's announcement of changes to its privacy policy that would allow more data sharing with Facebook. Signal gained tens of millions of new users in a matter of days, briefly overwhelming the service's infrastructure. The surge demonstrated strong consumer demand for privacy-focused messaging alternatives.

Moxie Marlinspike stepped down as CEO of Signal Messenger in January 2022. Meredith Whittaker was appointed President of Signal Foundation in 2022, bringing a high-profile advocate for AI ethics and technology policy to lead the organization. Whittaker previously worked at Google for 13 years and co-founded the AI Now Institute at New York University.

In 2024 and 2025, Signal introduced several new features including usernames (allowing users to communicate without sharing their phone numbers), improved group calling with up to 40 participants, enhanced privacy features, and a redesigned interface. The foundation also expanded its donation program, allowing users to contribute directly through the Signal app.

By 2026, Signal's monthly active users had grown to more than 50 million, driven by continued privacy concerns, government surveillance revelations, and increasing awareness of data collection practices by commercial technology platforms.

Signal Foundation's mission is inherently ethical, focused on protecting privacy and enabling secure communication for users globally, including journalists, activists, and vulnerable populations. The organization's non-profit structure ensures that its incentives are aligned with its mission rather than with profit maximization.

Signal's open-source approach is a core ethical principle. All Signal code is published openly, allowing independent security researchers to audit and verify the application's security claims. This transparency contrasts with commercial messaging platforms that use proprietary encryption implementations that cannot be independently verified.

Signal collects minimal user data. The only data Signal stores about its users is the phone number used for registration and the date of account creation. The foundation does not store message content, contact lists, group memberships, or metadata about user communications on its servers. Messages are stored locally on users' devices and are deleted from Signal's servers after delivery.

The foundation's funding model, based on donations rather than advertising or data monetization, ensures that Signal has no financial incentive to collect or retain user data. This structural guarantee is a key differentiator from commercial messaging platforms that monetize user data for advertising.

On environmental sustainability, Signal Foundation's footprint is minimal given its small size and software-only operations. The organization does not maintain large data centers or manufacturing operations, and its primary environmental impact comes from office energy consumption and employee computing.

Signal Foundation and the Signal Protocol have received recognition from privacy advocates, security researchers, and technology organizations.

• Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award: Signal Foundation and Moxie Marlinspike have been recognized by the EFF for contributions to privacy and secure communication technology.
• Free Software Award: Signal has received recognition from the Free Software Foundation for its commitment to open-source software and user privacy.
• Times Best Inventions: Signal has been named to Time magazine's Best Inventions list in the software category, recognizing its contribution to private communication.
• Consumer Reports Security Assessment: Signal has received the highest rating in Consumer Reports' security and privacy assessments of messaging applications, scoring higher than WhatsApp, iMessage, and Telegram.
• Freedom of the Press Foundation Endorsement: Signal is officially recommended by the Freedom of the Press Foundation for secure communication by journalists and sources.

Signal Foundation has faced pressure from governments seeking to weaken encryption or gain access to user communications. Law enforcement agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and other countries have argued that end-to-end encryption hinders criminal investigations and prevents the detection of child exploitation material.

In 2021 and 2023, Signal threatened to withdraw from the United Kingdom if the UK's Online Safety Bill required the company to implement backdoors in its encryption. The bill, which became law in 2023, included provisions that could require messaging platforms to scan encrypted messages for illegal content. Signal argued that scanning encrypted messages would require breaking end-to-end encryption, which would compromise the security of all users. The UK government subsequently clarified that it would not mandate scanning of end-to-end encrypted messages, and Signal continued to operate in the UK.

In the European Union, Signal has opposed the proposed Chat Control regulation, which would require messaging platforms to scan messages for child exploitation material. Signal has argued that the regulation would undermine end-to-end encryption and compromise user privacy. The regulation has faced significant opposition from privacy advocates and some EU member states.

Signal has also faced scrutiny related to its use by criminals and extremists, who use the platform's privacy features to communicate without law enforcement surveillance. Signal Foundation has argued that weakening encryption to address criminal use would undermine the security of all users, including journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens who rely on encryption for safety.

In 2024, Signal faced criticism from some users over its decision to require phone numbers for account registration, a requirement that was partially addressed with the introduction of usernames in 2024, allowing users to communicate without sharing their phone numbers. The foundation has stated that phone numbers remain necessary for spam prevention and account verification.