Privateness-focused messaging app Sign has been flying top within the Dutch app retail outlets this previous month, sitting many days as probably the most downloaded unfastened app on iOS and Android for all classes, in keeping with information from more than one app-tracking platforms akin to Sensor Tower.
The app has skilled surges in recognition over time, ceaselessly according to coverage adjustments at competitors like WhatsApp or geopolitical occasions. That’s as a result of Sign has made a reputation for itself as a extra privacy-friendly choice — it’s operated via a not-for-profit basis (albeit one based totally within the U.S.) reasonably than a personal industry identified for monetizing information. Additionally, Sign tracks minimum metadata.
In 2025, with a brand new U.S. president empowered via Giant Tech’s heat embody, it’s no longer peculiar that virtual privateness gear are having a second — in particular in Europe, which has attracted President Trump’s ire.
However what’s crowd pleasing this time round is Sign’s prominence in a single very explicit locale — the Netherlands.
In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf ultimate week, Sign president Meredith Whittaker famous that the selection of “new registrations” within the Netherlands have been upper this yr via an element of 25, although it’s no longer transparent what the precise comparative time period is for this knowledge.
When requested why the Netherlands has observed such enlargement, Whittaker pointed to a mix of things: “Rising consciousness of privateness, mistrust of huge tech, and the political fact by which folks notice how prone virtual verbal exchange will also be,” Whittaker stated.
Knowledge equipped to techmim from app intelligence company AppFigures charts Sign’s upward push within the Netherlands. Consistent with its information, it stated that Sign was once the 365th ranked non-game iPhone app on January 1 within the Netherlands and it wasn’t appearing up in any respect within the most sensible total apps listing. Then, beginning round January 5, it all started to climb the charts within the Netherlands, and via February 2 it hit most sensible spot total.
Sign has dipped out and in of the lead within the intervening weeks, spending round part of February on the summit — together with on a daily basis since February 22. Digging down into the knowledge, AppFigures estimates that the full selection of downloads throughout Apple and Google’s app retail outlets amounted to round 22,000 in December (2024). This larger to 99,000 in January, after which 233,000 via February — a 958% upward push since December.
Whilst it’s conceivable that a few of this enlargement might be attributed to Sign having a decrease saturation of downloads in comparison to different markets, the app’s sustained place on the most sensible of the charts relative to similar-sized neighboring markets is notable.
“No different markets come with reference to the Netherlands in relation to enlargement between December and February,” AppFigures advised techmim.
For comparability, the nearest are Belgium, which has observed downloads develop via greater than 250% since December; Sweden rising via 153%; and Denmark rising via 95%.
So why may Sign be experiencing what one Redditor known as a “mass adoption second” within the Netherlands, in particular?
Transparent sign
Rejo Zenger, senior coverage guide at Dutch virtual rights basis Bits of Freedom, stated that whilst it’s tough to pinpoint one explicit reason why, he stated he’s no longer shocked.
Fresh tendencies within the U.S. have observed the large platform suppliers fall in line in the back of the brand new Trump regime, and this has stoked important public and media debate. Europe’s reliance on generation belonging to very large non-public U.S. corporations has been highlighted in that discuss.
“The Dutch are, similar to many others, extremely dependent at the infrastructure equipped via extraordinarily dominant tech corporations, most commonly from the U.S.,” Zenger advised techmim. “What this implies, and the dangers that come from this, had been properly demonstrated up to now few weeks. Because of this, the general public debate within the Netherlands has been rather sharp. The place up to now this drawback was once simplest mentioned at the stage of ‘which fast messenger will have to I exploit,’ I think now we’re having the talk on upper ranges as neatly: ‘we will have to do away with this dependency.’”
In that context, the general public might be conflating dominance with information coverage abuse. With corporations like Meta continuously being investigated and fined over information privateness practices, Sign may seem the lesser evil: it’s based totally within the U.S., however operated via a non-profit that guarantees to encrypt no longer simplest message content material, however the metadata round it.
Vincent Böhre, director at Dutch privateness group Privateness First, additionally pointed to a media-driven build up in consciousness and a broader shift in public opinion.
“Ever since Trump was once re-elected within the U.S. a couple of months in the past, there was numerous ‘bashing’ of Trump and [Elon] Musk in Dutch — and Ecu — mainstream media, together with bashing of American Giant Tech corporations, which now appear to be supportive of Trump,” Böhre advised techmim. “Articles criticizing X [formerly Twitter] and Meta had been stoning up in Dutch media all over, resulting in a shift in Dutch public opinion: even individuals who by no means actually knew or cared about privateness and safety in social media, have now unexpectedly develop into fascinated about ‘privacy-friendly’ choices, Sign specifically.”
Sign of intent
Whilst the Netherlands is only one marketplace of 18 million folks in a Ecu inhabitants of greater than 700 million, a surge in that marketplace by myself might be observed as a bellwether for sentiment around the continent, at a time when governments are looking for to carry down privateness limitations.
Apple, for instance, lately pulled end-to-end encryption from iCloud within the U.Okay. to counter executive efforts to put in a backdoor.
Talking at RightsCon 25 in Taiwan this week, Whittaker reaffirmed a place she has said time and again up to now: Sign received’t compromise on privateness.
“Sign’s place on that is very transparent –- we will be able to no longer walk-back, adulterate, or another way perturb the tough privateness and safety promises that folks rely on,” Whittaker stated. “Whether or not that perturbation or backdoor is named client-side scanning, or the stripping of the encryption protections from one or every other options very similar to what Apple was once driven into doing within the U.Okay.”
One after the other, in an interview with Swedish public broadcaster SVT, Whittaker stated that it wouldn’t acquiesce to a proposed new Swedish regulation requiring messaging app-makers to retailer messages.
“In follow, this implies asking us to damage the encryption that’s the basis of our whole industry,” Whittaker stated. “Asking us to retailer information would undermine our whole structure and we’d by no means do this. We’d reasonably go away the Swedish marketplace utterly.”
techmim reached out to Sign for remark, however hadn’t heard again on the time of publishing.
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