Decoder with Nilay Patel

Why Signal won’t compromise on encryption, with president Meredith Whittaker

Oct 18, 2022

Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal and former AI researcher at Google, dives deep into the complexities of encryption and privacy in messaging. She discusses how Signal operates as a nonprofit focused on user privacy while navigating government pressures for surveillance. The conversation highlights the ethical implications of compromising encryption, as well as Signal's commitment to transparency and community trust. Whittaker also shares insights on the delicate balance between user safety and potential misuse, emphasizing the need for strong ethical standards in tech.

01:14:31

Episode guests

Meredith Whittaker

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Highlights

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Signal prioritizes user privacy over profit, operated by a nonprofit foundation.

Signal does not compromise encryption standards to maintain user privacy against governments.

Signal's decision-making process involves transparency, research, and growth focus while upholding privacy values.

Deep dives

Privacy-Centered Messaging App: Signal's Mission

Signal is a widely used messaging app that focuses on providing a truly private messaging experience. While appearing similar to other messaging apps on the surface, Signal distinguishes itself by its strong commitment to privacy and minimal data collection. By encrypting messages and minimizing metadata collection, Signal ensures user communication remains confidential and secure, attracting users concerned about privacy and data protection.

WhatsApp Collects Lots of Metadata

01:31

Does Signal Have a Content Moderation Team?

01:57

How Do You Make Decisions?

02:17

Focus on Customer Retention

02:28

Intro

4min

Signal's Commitment to Privacy and Nonprofit Structure

17min

The Art of Decision-Making in Business

3min

Navigating CEO Selection at Signal

4min

Selecting a New Leader and Driving User Growth

5min

Signal's Commitment to Encryption and Privacy

12min

A Commitment to Privacy and User Experience in Messaging

5min

Navigating Privacy in Messaging Apps

24min

Meredith Whittaker is the president of Signal, the popular messaging app that offers encrypted communication. You might recognize Meredith’s name from 2018 when she was an AI researcher at Google and one of the organizers of the Google walkout. Now she’s at Signal, which is a little different than the usual tech company: it’s operated by a nonprofit foundation and prides itself on collecting as little data as possible.

But messaging apps are a complicated business. Governments around the world really dislike encrypted messaging and often push companies to put in backdoors for surveillance and law enforcement because criminals use encrypted messaging for all sorts of deeply evil things. But there’s no half step to breaking encryption, so companies like Signal often find themselves in the difficult position of refusing to help governments. You might recall that Apple has often refused to help the government break into iPhones, for example. I wanted to know how that tradeoff plays out at Signal’s much smaller and more idealistic scale.

This is a good one, with lots of Decoder themes in the mix. We have to start doing checklists or something. Okay, Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal. Here we go.

Links:

The battle inside Signal

Yes, even Signal is doing stories now

Here’s why Apple’s new child safety features are so controversial

Signal is ‘starting to phase out SMS support’ from its Android app

A very brief history of every Google messaging app

RCS: What it is and why you might want it

Let’s chat about RCS

WhatsApp is now entirely end-to-end encrypted

Moxie Marlinspike has stepped down as CEO of Signal

Meredith Whittaker Tweet

Transcript: