Signal is the downloaded app in the Netherlands. But why?

Data protection device messaging app signal flew up in the Dutch app stores last month and has shown many days as the most downloaded free app on iOS and Android for all Categories per data from several app tracking platforms such as Sensor Tower.

The app has been thrown in popularity over the years, often in response to political changes to competitors such as WhatsApp or geopolitical events. This is because Signal has made itself a name as a privacy-it is operated by a non-profit foundation (albeit in the USA) and not by a private company known for the monetization of data. Signal also follows minimal metadata.

In 2025 it is not uncommon for digital data protection instruments to have a moment – especially in Europe, which has attracted President Trump's anger.

But what is striking this time is the meaning of signal in a very specific area of ​​the Netherlands.

In an interview with the Dutch Zeitung de Telegraaf Last week, Signal President Meredith Whitaker found that the number of “new registrations” in the Netherlands was a factor of 25 this year, although it is not clear how exactly the exact comparison period for this data is.

When asked why the Netherlands have recorded such growth, Whittaker pointed to a combination of factors: “Awareness of privacy, distrust of Big Tech and the political reality in which people can see how vulnerable digital communication can be,” said Whittaker.

Data made available from App Intelligence company Apppfigiges diagrams signal the increase in the Netherlands in the Netherlands. According to the data, the signal was the 365th iPhone app on January 1st in the Netherlands, and it was not displayed in the top overall apps list. From January 5, it started to climb the charts in the Netherlands, and until February 2nd it hit the top position.

The signal has spent the lead and from the summit in half of February in recent weeks. This rose to 99,000 in January and then 233,000 until February – an increase of 958% since December.

It is possible that part of this growth is saturated on a signalownload than other markets, the continued position of the app at the top of the charts in comparison to similar neighboring markets is noteworthy.

“No other markets come close in the Netherlands in terms of growth between December and February,” Apppfigige told Techcrunch.

For comparison, Belgium is closest, in which downloads have grown by more than 250% since December. Sweden grows by 153%; And Denmark grows by 95%.

Why could a signal be, which a redditor described as a “mass adoption moment” in the Netherlands, especially in the Netherlands?

Clear signal

Rejo Zenger, Senior Policy Advisor at Dutch Digital Rights Foundation Bits of Freedom, said it was difficult to determine a specific reason that he was not surprised.

In the recent developments in the United States, the large platform providers were behind the new Trump regime, and this has taken over an important public and media debate. Europe's trust in the technology that belongs to huge private US companies was emphasized in this debate.

“Like many others, the Dutch are very dependent on the infrastructure of extremely dominant technology companies, mainly from the USA,” Zenger told Techcrunch. “What this means and the risks resulting from it have been demonstrated nicely in the past few weeks. As a result, the public debate in the Netherlands was relatively sharp. Where in the past this problem was 'discussed' only at the level of 'discussed'Which immediate messenger should I use?“I now have the feeling that we also have the debate on higher levels:”We should get rid of this dependency. '”

In this context, the public could connect the dominance to the abuse of data protection. Since companies such as Meta are regularly examined and punished on data protection practices, signal could appear the smaller evil: it is based in the USA, but is operated by a non -profit organization that promises not only news content, but also the metadata around them.

Vincent Böhre, director at Dutch Privacy Organization Privacy, also pointed out a media -oriented increase in consciousness and a broader change in public opinion.

“Since Trump was re -elected in the USA a few months ago, there has been a lot” beaten up “by Trump and [Elon] Musk in Dutch and European mainstream media, including the Bashing of American Big Tech companies that now seem to support Trump, ”Böhre told Techcrunch. “Articles that criticize X [formerly Twitter] And Meta appeared all over Dutch media and led to a shift in Dutch public opinion: Even people who have never really taken care of privacy and security on social media are now suddenly interested in alternative “privacy”, especially for alternatives.

Intent signal

While the Netherlands are only a market of 18 million people in a European population of more than 700 million, an increase in this market alone could be regarded as a Bellwether for the mood on the entire continent, at a time when governments are trying to reduce data protection regulations.

For example, Apple recently pulled the end-to-end encryption of iCloud in Great Britain in order to counteract the government's efforts to install a back door.

Whitaker spoke this week at RightScon 25 in Taiwan and confirmed a position that she has often explained in the past: Signal will not affect any compromises in privacy.

“The position of Signal is very clear- we will not reset, falsify, falsify or otherwise disrupt the robust privacy and security guarantees,” said Whittaker. “Whether this disturbance or backdoor was crowded in Great Britain as a client -side scanning or removing the encryption protection from one or the other characteristics, similar to Apple.”

In an interview with the Swedish public broadcaster SVT, Whittaker said that it would not make it available for a proposed new Swedish law that the messaging app manufacturers demand for saving messages.

“In practice, this means asking us to break the encryption that is the basis of our entire business,” said Whittaker. “We ask ourselves to store data, our entire architecture and we would never do it. We would rather leave the Swedish market completely. “

Techcrunch turned to a comment on Signal, but hadn't heard anything at the time of publication.