Signal Tests New Feature to Hide Sender Information

The developers of the Signal messenger are gradually introducing new methods to provide better privacy for users. The latest beta release includes early versions of features designed to hide information about who is messaging whom.

Signal’s developers shared details about these updates on the company’s blog. They explain the changes as follows:

“When you send a typical electronic message, the outgoing packet also includes the sender’s and recipient’s addresses. The same basic principles apply to messages sent via Signal.”

“The service cannot look ‘inside’ the encrypted packet, but it does use the information listed on the so-called ‘outside’ of the packet. This is done to facilitate message delivery between users.”

The developers emphasize that the service does not actually need to know who the sender of a message is. For delivery, it only requires information about where the message should be sent.

“It would be much better if the service processed packets that only specified the destination. The ‘from’ field could simply be left blank,” Signal representatives write.

You can also watch a video about this update on the company’s blog.