Why UU staff and students are switching to Signal

Signal has been growing in popularity over the past few months, and many people prefer it to WhatsApp. They are both apps that allow users to make calls and send messages over the internet, but there are important differences, especially when it comes to privacy. WhatsApp, like Facebook and Instagram, is owned by Meta and collects data such as contacts, locations and other usage data. Signal, on the other hand, stores virtually none of this data and is managed by an independent non-profit organisation, making it popular with users seeking maximum privacy.

Utrecht University does not officially use Whatsapp or Signal, although in practice it is widely used by students and staff. Hogeschool Utrecht prefers Signal, the UU has not yet made a statement, but Whatsapp is marked as 'unsafe' in its so-called tooladvisor. The Tooladvisor uses red, orange and green colours to indicate which online tools are safe to use, pose a potential risk or are unsafe. Whatsapp is unsafe because the data collected from users can be used for commercial purposes, your privacy is not guaranteed, and you should not use it for sensitive UU data.

Signal also falls under US legislation
Chief Information Security Officer David de Boer says the UU should use Teams for business communications "at all times". Microsoft Teams is safe to use, he says. Your data is not used or sold, and your data is encrypted, including by login codes. Still, there are grey areas. Teams is not as user-friendly on smartphones and for contacts outside the UU. “In this case, I would recommend using Signal instead of Whatsapp. Signal's privacy policy is transparent, while Whatsapp's is opaque. With Signal, you know where you stand.”

However, Signal is not given a green code, but an orange one. De Boer: 'The main reason for an orange recommendation is that we have no contractual agreements with Signal. We have no control over the measures to be taken and the privacy aspects. Another potential risk lies mainly in the fact that Signal, like Whatsapp, falls under US legislation. This allows the US government to request data from the service, although there is little to hand over as Signal collects little data. All in all, less of a risk than WhatsApp, which is also known to store much more content data.

Whether there will be a statement from UU as there has been from HU, De Boer cannot say for sure. When it comes to security, I would definitely recommend Signal over Whatsapp. But whether there will be an official statement regarding ethical concerns, I don't know. I certainly don't rule it out.

As for himself, he would like to get everyone in his personal life to join him on Signal. I only communicate with my colleagues through Teams, and we have a Signal group as a backup. My wife is now on Signal, but my children do not yet see the point. That's why I still use both: I just need to be able to reach my kids.

Treat to cake
Jong UU, the organisation that organises activities for UUs under 35, recently switched to Signal. With around 160 active members on WhatsApp, where all invitations to events are shared, it was not always easy. Two months ago, a discussion started in the chat,' says board member Yashna Pande. Someone shared their concerns about Meta, the company that owns Facebook and WhatsApp. The pain points mentioned were about fact-checking, privacy and views around queer individuals and women. One of our members asked about the possibility of switching.

After reading a number of articles (in Dutch only) about Signal and discussing the moral and practical issues, the board decided that the switch was desirable. Says Pande: "I was a bit reluctant myself at first, because a switch like this only works if everyone is on board. But moral concerns were the deciding factor. Besides, any change is difficult at first: that's no reason not to do it.” 

The board send a message in Whatsapp that Young UU was switching to Signal: “As some of you mentioned above, we do not support the developments of the big US techbros. However, we do want to maintain a low-threshold communication tool to easily share information about activities, last minute changes, and help lost Young UU members. We understand that not everyone is on Signal yet. However, we hope that everyone will make the switch and join the Young UU Signal group.”

The Whatsapp group stayed on air for another two weeks. It was finally switched on 1 March. Since then, about 65 members have switched, but 100 have not. Says Pande: "I think a lot of people are not on it yet for practical reasons. They haven't downloaded the app, or they've forgotten that we've switched. But they will eventually. We also have a newsletter and a Teams environment. So you can get your information in a lot of different ways.”

Her colleagues in the Sustainability Office have also switched to Signal. “We have agreed that if someone accidentally posts something on the Whatsapp group, you have to bring cake for everyone. So it's best to come up with something playful to encourage yourself and each other.” Personally, Pande still uses both applications. “Now it seems that Signal is the business app and WhatsApp is the personal one. I would switch completely if everyone I wanted to stay in touch with did. But it's not that easy yet. A lot of groups haven't even brought it up yet.”

Not sponsoring a US billionaire

Phillip Sokolov, a Vidius board member and philosophy student, has been an active user of Signal since 2016, two years after WhatsApp was bought by Zuckerberg for millions. Phillip studied computer science in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and was well aware of the dangers of meta-privacy. He swore off Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp for a while, but ran into practical problems. “I lost friends because they were still using WhatsApp. When I moved to Utrecht and looked for a room, I had to go back to Facebook and Instagram. It's inescapable. A disconnect, because he also sees this dependency as one of the big problems.

Phillip is known in his area as a 'signal activist'. “I wouldn't describe myself that way, but I am critical. Actually, I think the problem is deeper, even switching to Signal is not going to solve these underlying problems.” He explains that he is concerned about the lack of democratic control over software that leaves you, the user, at the mercy of the platform's decisions. “That problem is at the heart of the software. So we should address it.” Philip joins programmer Richard Stallman in advocating free software in the Free Software Manifesto, where users have the freedom to use, study, share and modify software.

So Philip is now on Signal and Whatsapp, but he has his notifications turned off, and his bio says he can be reached on Signal. He has also installed Whatsapp Business, which is for small business owners and allows you to have automatic messages sent to you with information about your business. This automated message also states that he can be reached on Signal. In this way, he is trying to move his contacts to Signal. “Signal is not our salvation, but it is an improvement," he says.

In terms of policy, he hopes that organisations will look more closely at these issues. “Any organisation funded by public money would do well to look at this. Universities should also scratch behind their ears. With their Instagram accounts, they are sponsoring this system and an American billionaire. I hope they start thinking about alternatives, and it would be good if they came out with a statement.”