Privateness-focused messaging app Sign has been flying excessive within the Dutch app shops this previous month, sitting many days as essentially the most downloaded free app on iOS and Android for all classes, per information from a number of app-tracking platforms reminiscent of Sensor Tower.
The app has skilled surges in recognition by way of the years, usually in response to coverage modifications at rivals like WhatsApp or geopolitical occasions. That’s as a result of Sign has made a reputation for itself as a extra privacy-friendly possibility — it’s operated by a not-for-profit basis (albeit one based mostly within the U.S.) slightly than a personal enterprise identified for monetizing information. Furthermore, Sign tracks minimal metadata.
In 2025, with a brand new U.S. president empowered by Large Tech’s heat embrace, it’s common that digital privateness instruments are having a second — notably in Europe, which has attracted President Trump’s ire.
However what’s eye-catching this time round is Sign’s prominence in a single very particular locale — the Netherlands.
In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf final week, Sign president Meredith Whittaker famous that the variety of “new registrations” within the Netherlands had been increased this 12 months by an element of 25, although it’s not clear what the precise comparative time period is for this information.
When requested why the Netherlands has seen such progress, Whittaker pointed to a mix of things: “Growing awareness of privacy, distrust of big tech, and the political reality in which people realize how vulnerable digital communication can be,” Whittaker stated.
Knowledge supplied to TechCrunch from app intelligence agency AppFigures charts Sign’s rise within the Netherlands. Per its information, it stated that Sign was the 365th ranked non-game iPhone app on January 1 within the Netherlands and it wasn’t exhibiting up in any respect within the prime total apps record. Then, beginning round January 5, it started to climb the charts within the Netherlands, and by February 2 it hit prime spot total.
Sign has dipped out and in of the lead within the intervening weeks, spending round half of February on the summit — together with every day since February 22. Digging down into the information, AppFigures estimates that the entire variety of downloads throughout Apple and Google’s app shops amounted to round 22,000 in December (2024). This elevated to 99,000 in January, after which 233,000 by way of February — a 958% rise since December.
Whereas it’s potential that a few of this progress could possibly be attributed to Sign having a decrease saturation of downloads in comparison with different markets, the app’s sustained place on the prime of the charts relative to similar-sized neighboring markets is notable.
“No other markets come close to the Netherlands in terms of growth between December and February,” AppFigures advised TechCrunch.
For comparability, the closest are Belgium, which has seen downloads develop by greater than 250% since December; Sweden rising by 153%; and Denmark rising by 95%.
So why may Sign be experiencing what one Redditor referred to as a “mass adoption moment” within the Netherlands, particularly?
Clear sign
Rejo Zenger, senior coverage advisor at Dutch digital rights basis Bits of Freedom, stated that whereas it’s tough to pinpoint one particular motive, he stated he’s not stunned.
Latest developments within the U.S. have seen the massive platform suppliers fall in line behind the brand new Trump regime, and this has stoked important public and media debate. Europe’s reliance on know-how belonging to large non-public U.S. corporations has been highlighted in that debate.
“The Dutch are, just like many others, highly dependent on the infrastructure provided by extremely dominant tech companies, mostly from the U.S.,” Zenger advised TechCrunch. “What this means, and the risks that come from this, have been nicely demonstrated in the past few weeks. As a result, the public debate in the Netherlands has been relatively sharp. Where in the past this problem was only discussed on the level of ‘which instant messenger should I use,’ I feel now we are having the debate on higher levels as well: ‘we should get rid of this dependency.’”
In that context, the general public could possibly be conflating dominance with information safety abuse. With corporations like Meta often being investigated and fined over information privateness practices, Sign may seem the lesser evil: it’s based mostly within the U.S., however operated by a non-profit that guarantees to encrypt not solely message content material, however the metadata round it.
Vincent Böhre, director at Dutch privateness group Privateness First, additionally pointed to a media-driven improve in consciousness and a broader shift in public opinion.
“Ever since Trump was re-elected in the U.S. a few months ago, there has been a lot of ‘bashing’ of Trump and [Elon] Musk in Dutch — and European — mainstream media, including bashing of American Big Tech companies, which now seem to be supportive of Trump,” Böhre advised TechCrunch. “Articles criticizing X [formerly Twitter] and Meta have been popping up in Dutch media everywhere, leading to a shift in Dutch public opinion: even people who never really knew or cared about privacy and security in social media, have now suddenly become interested in ‘privacy-friendly’ alternatives, Signal in particular.”
Sign of intent
Whereas the Netherlands is only one market of 18 million individuals in a European inhabitants of greater than 700 million, a surge in that market alone could possibly be seen as a bellwether for sentiment throughout the continent, at a time when governments are looking for to convey down privateness limitations.
Apple, for instance, not too long ago pulled end-to-end encryption from iCloud within the U.Okay. to counter authorities efforts to put in a backdoor.
Talking at RightsCon 25 in Taiwan this week, Whittaker reaffirmed a place she has said many instances prior to now: Sign gained’t compromise on privateness.
“Signal’s position on this is very clear –- we will not walk-back, adulterate, or otherwise perturb the robust privacy and security guarantees that people depend on,” Whittaker stated. “Whether that perturbation or backdoor is called client-side scanning, or the stripping of the encryption protections from one or another features similar to what Apple was pushed into doing in the U.K.”
Individually, 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 practice, this means asking us to break the encryption that is the foundation of our entire business,” Whittaker stated. “Asking us to store data would undermine our entire architecture and we would never do that. We would rather leave the Swedish market completely.”
TechCrunch reached out to Sign for remark, however hadn’t heard again on the time of publishing.
