Just over a year ago, Meredith Whittaker stepped into the role of president of the Signal Foundation — and from the beginning, she has been dealing with political threats to encryption.
The foundation’s flagship product, the Signal messaging app, has drawn in users with its default end-to-end encryption and an uncompromising stance on privacy. But those same features have also made it a target. Governments in China, Egypt, Cuba, Uzbekistan and, most recently, Iran have banned Signal outright. In the U.K., recently passed legislation could target messenger services and require an app like Signal to moderate harmful content such as terrorist content or child abuse imagery. To find that content, Signal would need access to user conversations, which would mean breaking the service’s end-to-end encryption. Similar bills have already been passed in India and proposed in Brazil. Whittaker doesn’t mince words, calling such laws an existential threat to Signal.
https://restofworld.org/2023/signal-president-meredith-whittaker-messaing-privacy/