Signal messaging app faces technical glitches as people start searching for WhatsApp alternatives. The app saw a massive spike in registration after the world’s wealthiest man Elon Musk recommended it to users. The registration system for the private messenger service Signal crashed on Thursday after many new users tried to join the service looking for an alternative to WhatsApp.
Signal informed about the surge in user registration on Twitter. “Verification codes are currently delayed across several providers because so many new people are trying to join Signal right now (we can barely register our excitement). We are working with carriers to resolve this as quickly as possible,” the app’s official Twitter account tweeted.
The messaging service saw a spike in registration after Tesla CEO Elon Musk asked his followers to join Signal.
“Currently, so many new people are trying to join Signal, so the validation code is lagging among some providers (we can hardly register excitement),” Signal said in a tweet. “We are working with carriers to resolve this as soon as possible. Good luck there.”
Signal has also been endorsed by a whistleblower and privacy advocate Edward Snowden as well as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. It was created by Moxie Marlinspike, cofounder of the Signal Foundation, which received initial funding from WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton. Signal says it has “state-of-the-art” end-to-end encryption and is an independent nonprofit, not tied to any major tech company and cannot be acquired by one either.
The service is being recommended as a WhatsApp alternative after the Facebook-owned messaging app recently updated its terms of service and privacy policy. The new update provides additional information on WhatsApp services and how the app processes user data. There are new sections that provide precise information on how data is collected by the app, including Transactions, Payments Data, and Location Information. The most important change centers around how the messaging platform shares information with Facebook and its subsidiaries.
WhatsApp users can choose to accept the new terms of service and privacy policy or delete their account. Elon Musk tweet: Signal app registration system crashes as users look for ‘WhatsApp alternative’.
Source: Money Control
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