Social messaging apps tend to make major news headlines a few times per year for either their use in planning some sort of crime or, more routinely, for users’ privacy concerns over how companies like Meta — which owns WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger — handle user data.
In a somewhat separate event, the Trump administration became the focus of national discussion after members of US President Donald Trump’s cabinet were found to be using Signal to plan military actions in Yemen. While a hack, backdoor access or misuse of user data was not the source of criticism in this scenario, the event did raise national security concerns about Signal’s security and whether or not high-ranking government officials should be using messaging apps to discuss classified information.
Apple’s recent decision to stop offering end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) cloud storage in the UK instead of creating a backdoor that would allow the UK government access