Encrypted messaging app and WhatsApp’s rival, Signal has challenged the user privacy policies of Facebook and Instagram via sharing a set of ads on Instagram to exhibit how the social network collects data from users and presents ads based on that private information. The firm claims that companies such as Facebook are not developing technology for you but for your data.
“We created a multi-variant targeted ad designed to show you the personal data that Facebook collects about you and sells access to. The ad would simply display some of the information collected about the viewer which the advertising platform uses. Facebook was not into that idea,” writes Signal in a blog post.
Read more: WhatsApp Competitor Signal now allows Payments In Cryptocurrencies
Moxie Marlinspike, an American entrepreneur and computer security researcher has stated that Signal tried to apply Instagram ads to publicize the data Facebook collects about a user. However, Facebook was not into the idea and shut down the company’s account instead.
Moreover, Instagram ads are paid-for posts that companies employ to push into users’ Instagram feeds. Signal created a “multi-variant targeted ad” intended to reveal to users the private data that Facebook collects for advertisement purposes or sells to other businesses.
Read more: Mark Zuckerberg gets heavily trolled on Twitter after found using Signal
Signal planned to utilize Instagram’s third-party promotion mechanisms to expose the “clear-cut targeting of naïve consumers” but was refused access. The encrypted messaging app is an open-sourced application in which users can review its software code to guarantee their private data is secure.
At the beginning of this year, Signal observed sudden inflation in downloads after Facebook-owned, WhatsApp updated its privacy policies, inducing extensive concern from users. The app has been endorsed by the billionaire, Elon Musk, it was downloaded nearly 7.5 million times worldwide through the Apple App Store and Google Play in just a period of five days in January.
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