Tomorrow it’s Signal and God knows what will come in six months from now,” Avi Pardo, co-founder and chief operating officer at LeapXpert told Financial News. Unlike Signal and Whatsapp, Twitter's direct messages are not end-to-end encrypted.The Hong Kong-based surveillance software provider LeapXpert is developing the tech for three of its big banking clients, but declined to name the participants in the trial.Tesla Inc TSLA chief Elon Musk praised Signal and recommended that Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) have end-to-end encryption for its direct messages to ensure security.She said that Signal is not interested in increasing profit or attention on ads but instead creating a network effect of encrypted communication.Signal currently has 140.9 million downloads across the App Store and Google Play.

The app experienced a massive spike in downloads last year during a privacy backlash after WhatsApp changed its policy on data collection on user interactions with businesses.Most recently, Federal Trade Commissioner Lina Khan tapped Whittaker as a senior adviser on AI.

Whittaker, a member of Signal's board since 2020, rose to prominence for worker activism at Google before it ousted her.

Whittaker says that the only way to escape technology that makes money off your data is by paying for products that don't.

'It costs tens of millions of dollars per year to develop and maintain an app like Signal,' she said.

Whittaker looks to focus on sustaining Signal, which hopes to support itself with small donations from millions of users.

Non-profit-backed Signal competes against WhatsApp and iMessage, championed by Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc META and Apple Inc AAPL.

Also Read: Signal Founder Details Messaging App's Superiority Over Telegram Amid Ukrainian Crisis Elon Musk Chimes In With His Preferences.

Signal is committed to encryption in an industry built on collecting personal data.

The Google manager has been outspoken about the harms of Big Tech.

Encrypted messenger app Signal has appointed Meredith Whittaker, a former Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL as its first President, adding to the roster of tech critics leading the encrypted messaging app, the Washington Post reports.

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