Amid the Whatsapp privacy policy controversy, Critics are now urging consumers and businesses to migrate to other instant messaging platforms that are seen to be more secure and are claimed to offer superior encryption. People have already begun the shifting process and one of the biggest reasons users are not taking this privacy issue lightly is because business tycoons and public influencers have continued to voice their opinions on the matter.

Many celebrities have come forward and urged people to quit Whatsapp and install Signal claiming it to be the most secure instant messaging application. These are the celebrities who have endorsed the 'Signal' app.

  • Elon Musk: Signal's popularity instantly shot up after it was endorsed by the world's richest businessman and one of the most-followed person on Twitter, The messaging service saw a spike in registration after Tesla CEO Elon Musk asked his followers to join Signal.





  •  Jack Dorsey: Twitter CEO  Jack Dorsey also endorsed Signal. Jack took to his micro-blogging site and shared an image which shows Signal stands first on the top charts list of App Store.





  • Anand Mahindra: The Indian business tycoon, the chairman of Mahindra Group also joined the league and urged users to join Signal aap, being dubbed as a secure alternative to the Facebook-owned WhatsApp.
    "Have installed Signal messaging. Maybe soon there will be a #signalwonderbox," tweeted Mahindra, who has 8.3 million followers on the micro-blogging site.





  • Edward Snowden: American whistleblower Edward Snowden has also urged users to switch to Signal saying that he uses the app every day and that it is secure. When someone on Twitter tagged Snowden and said there is no reason to trust Signal, he replied saying, "Here's a reason: I use it (Signal) every day, and I'm not dead yet."

  • Vijay Shekhar Sharma: Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has urged users to move to Signal and not fall victim to WhatsApp’s new policy. Sharma further noted that WhatsApp and Facebook are abusing their monopoly in India and taking users' privacy for granted.


"They say the market has power. We are the largest market. Here in India, WhatsApp / Facebook are abusing their monopoly & taking away millions of users' privacy for granted. We should move on to @signalapp NOW. It is up to us to become victim or reject such moves," Sharma wrote on Twitter.



  • Sameer Nigam: PhonePe co-founder Sameer Nigam has moved around half of his team to Signal, along with his office groups, according to a report published by IANS. The Phone Pe founder has urged people to use an app with better encryption than Whatsapp.

  •  Kunal Shah: In an interview with news agency IANS, Brian Acton,  Executive Chairman of Signal Foundation said that he is glad that entrepreneurs are shifting to Signal over Whatsapp. He revealed that the CRED founder Kunal Shah has currently switched to the Signal app. Kunal Shah also tweeted on the Whatsapp privacy policy issue.





  • Kavin Bharti Mittal: Hike CEO, Kavin Bharti Mittal also noted that Telegram and Signal are good apps as they have the right incentives, unlike Facebook. “India won’t have its own messenger. Global network effects are too strong (unless India bans Western companies). @telegram UX, Groups better than @signalapp. Both are very good. As entities they have the right incentives (more aligned with consumers) unlike FB products,” Mittal wrote on Twitter.


 

Signal, the cross-platform encrypted messaging service, has climbed to the top spot in the free apps category of the App Store in multiple countries, including India.

Along with India, it became the top downloaded app in Germany, France, Austria, Finland, Hong Kong, and Switzerland as well.