Brian Acton, WhatsApp founder, interim CEO, and Facebook critic and former CEO/encryption publisher Moxie Marlinspike already on the board of directors. He said the focus will be on strategy, communication and the long-term financial health of the foundation.
“I will work with the Signal CEO and leadership, with a particular focus on guiding Signal’s strategy, ensuring our financial sustainability, sharpening and expanding Signal’s public communications, and everything else needed to strengthen the app and the org,” he said. Whittaker It will also assist in the search for a permanent CEO to replace Acton.
Signal’s new move will put WhatsApp in a difficult position
Whittaker, Google’s Andy Rubin He rose to prominence as the founder of Google’s Open Research Group and a strike organizer after it was revealed that he had paid executives accused of sexual harassment, including Mr. He left the search giant in 2019 and went on to found the AI Now Institute at NYU, which aims to “ensure AI systems are accountable to the communities and contexts in which they are applied,” according to its mission statement. He is also senior advisor on artificial intelligence to the Federal Trade Commission and joined the Signal Foundation’s board of directors in 2020.
Signal last year of WhatsApp It now counts more than 140 million users after receiving significant support following its backlash against privacy policy changes. with Firefox Signal, one of the few apps dedicated to privacy rather than revenue through data collection. To that end, Whittaker plans to focus on protecting the company’s health, with small donations from millions of users who “take some action”, Whittaker told the Washington Post. “We have growth goals, but they are driven by our nonprofit mission,” he said.