Signal vs Zoom

Signal is a nonprofit that genuinely cannot read your messages or listen to your calls — the encryption is architectural, not a promise — but it requires a real phone number to register, is subject to US law, and its privacy policy is conspicuously sparse: it hasn't been substantively updated since 2018 and lacks the specific retention periods, GDPR rights, or DPO contact that more thorough policies provide.

Zoom explicitly won't use your meeting, chat, or video content to train AI models — a meaningful commitment for a communications platform. But your employer or meeting host can access everything you say, record, and type, and Zoom shares data with advertising and analytics partners. The privacy story is split: strong on AI and content use, weaker on employer surveillance and ad-tech.