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Signal’s robust security features make it significantly more secure than traditional text messaging, aligning with former FBI supervisory agent Scott Augenbaum’s assertion that unauthorized access to Signal messages should be impossible. Here’s why experts consider Signal the gold standard in private communication:
### Core Security Advantages Over SMS
– : All Signal messages, calls, and video chats automatically use military-grade encryption that only the intended recipient can decrypt. Regular SMS texts remain unencrypted, leaving them vulnerable to interception.
– : Unlike telecom providers that log SMS records, Signal doesn’t store information about who communicated with whom, when, or where.
– : Signal Protocol encryption has been publicly audited and adopted by WhatsApp/Facebook Messenger, with its codebase continuously scrutinized by security experts.
### Key Protection Features
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– Users can confirm conversations haven’t been intercepted by matching safety numbers or scanning QR codes
– Automatic security notifications alert users if a contact’s encryption key changes
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– Optional screen lock prevents access to messages even if phone is unlocked
– Disappearing messages (30s-4wk timer) auto-delete sensitive content
### Structural Privacy Advantages
– : Funded by donations rather than data harvesting, eliminating corporate surveillance incentives
– : Relays calls through servers to hide IP addresses from unknown contacts – a $1.7M/year bandwidth cost Signal absorbs
– : Automatic security patches protect against emerging threats like quantum computing vulnerabilities
While no system is completely invulnerable, Signal’s combination of open-source encryption, metadata minimization, and physical security controls make it the preferred choice for national security officials, journalists, and privacy-conscious citizens alike. As surveillance threats grow, Signal provides what cybersecurity expert Vahid Behzadan calls “digital dignity through encryption” – a critical defense against both criminal hackers and government overreach.
