Signal, the encrypted messaging and calling app, is a nonprofit service that has gained widespread popularity and competes with well-funded Silicon Valley competitors like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Signal announced that its operating costs for this year are around $40 million and are projected to reach $50 million by 2025. The president of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, published these cost figures not only to appeal for year-end donations but also to shed light on how other companies cover these expenses through monetizing user data or by operating with a surveillance business model. Signal’s costs mainly go towards infrastructure and staffing, and its privacy-preserving features require extra time and money to develop. While Signal relies on donations, it hopes to increasingly depend on small user contributions through the app itself in the future. Its aim is to exist and grow without compromising its mission of providing private communications. By revealing its costs, Signal aims to emphasize the importance of privacy and raise questions about the rest of the tech industry’s practices.
https://www.wired.com/story/signal-operating-costs/