Encrypted apps and services have spiked in the wake of Trump's election

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Apps and services that leverage strong end-to-end encryption are seeing a spike in new downloads and sign-ups after last week’s election.

Switzerland-based ProtonMail, an end-to-end encrypted email service, said that its weekly sign-ups doubled following the election, The Verge reported. Additionally, Signal, an end-to-end encrypted mobile messaging app, also saw a significant jump in new downloads since the election, Variety reported.

The Signal app was ranked 98th in the US in the iOS App Store on Election Day. The next day, after Trump’s victory was announced, it jumped to 45th, and was 34th in the App Store as of last Thursday. Similarly, it jumped from the 65th most popular communications app in the US in the Google Play store on Election Day to 34th.

Encrypted apps and services have gained a great deal of public attention and adoption over the course of 2016, starting with the FBI’s battle with Apple over iPhone encryption. They gained even more attention during the election campaign after Russian hackers targeted the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee. Clinton campaign staffers reportedly starting using Signal to message each other after Russian hackers compromised the emails of John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign manager.

Trump’s election has raised fears about how he'll use the NSA’s vast surveillance operations once he takes office, leading many in the tech sector to question whether companies need to roll back their data collection efforts, or store more data overseas to avoid NSA spying.

Trump repeatedly attacked minority groups and members of the media during his election campaign, so many are now concerned that he may use the NSA’s surveillance powers to target these groups once he takes office. Companies that heavily emphasize their encryption and data privacy efforts will likely continue to see a boost in adoption in the near term.

If Trump’s administration tries to expand the NSA’s surveillance powers further, it could incentivize more tech companies to introduce end-to-end encryption to their consumer applications and services. Trump’s administration will have to deal with the issue of NSA surveillance early on, as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Services Act, the section that authorized the NSA’s PRISM surveillance apparatus, is up for re-authorization next year. 

Encryption is becoming particularly important for messaging apps, which have evolved beyond simple text communication tools to include commerce, file sharing, artificial intelligence, and more. And that evolution is ongoing.

BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on messaging apps that takes a close look at the size of the messaging app market, how these apps are changing, and the types of opportunities for monetization that have emerged from the growing audience that uses messaging services daily.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• Mobile messaging apps are massive. The largest services have hundreds of millions of monthly active users (MAU). Falling data prices, cheaper devices, and improved features are helping propel their growth.
• Messaging apps are about more than messaging. The first stage of the chat app revolution was focused on growth. In the next phase, companies will focus on building out services and monetizing chat apps’ massive user base.
• Popular Asian messaging apps like WeChat, KakaoTalk, and LINE have taken the lead in finding innovative ways to keep users engaged. They’ve also built successful strategies for monetizing their services.
• Media companies, and marketers are still investing more time and resources into social networks like Facebook and Twitter than they are into messaging services. That will change as messaging companies build out their services and provide more avenues for connecting brands, publishers, and advertisers with users.

In full, this report:

• Gives a high-level overview of the messaging market in the US by comparing total monthly active users for the top chat apps.
• Examines the user behavior of chat app users, specifically what makes them so attractive to brands, publishers, and advertisers.
• Identifies what distinguishes chat apps in the West from their counterparts in the East.
• Discusses the potentially lucrative avenues companies are pursuing to monetize their services.
• Offers key insights and implications for marketers as they consider interacting with users through these new platforms.

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