Privacy-focused messaging app Signal has been flying high in the Dutch app stores this past month, often sitting at the top as the most downloaded free app on iOS and Android across all categories, per data from multiple app-tracking platforms such as Sensor Tower.

The app has experienced surges in popularity over the years, often in response to policy changes at rivals like WhatsApp or geopolitical events. That’s because Signal has made a name for itself as a more privacy-friendly option — it’s operated by a not-for-profit foundation (albeit one based in the U.S.) rather than a private business focused on monetizing data. Moreover, Signal tracks minimal metadata.

In 2025, with a new U.S. president empowered by Big Tech’s warm embrace, it’s not surprising that digital privacy tools are having a moment — particularly in Europe, which has attracted President Trump’s ire.

But what’s especially eye-catching this time around is Signal’s prominence in one very specific locale — the Netherlands.

In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf last week, Signal President Meredith Whittaker noted that the number of “new registrations” in the Netherlands was higher this year by a factor of 25, though it’s not clear what the exact comparative period of time is for this data.

When asked why the Netherlands has seen such growth, Whittaker pointed to a combination of factors: “Growing awareness of privacy, distrust of big tech, and the political reality in which people realize how vulnerable digital communication can be,” Whittaker said.

Data provided to TechCrunch from app intelligence firm AppFigures charts Signal’s rise in the Netherlands. Per its data, Signal ranked 365th among non-game iPhone apps in the Netherlands on January 1 and did not appear in the top overall apps list. Then, starting around January 5, it began to climb the rankings, reaching the top position by February 2.

Signal has dipped in and out of the lead in the intervening weeks, spending around half of February at the summit — including each day since February 22. Digging deeper into the data, AppFigures estimates that combined downloads across Apple and Google’s app stores totaled around 22,000 in December 2024. This jumped to 99,000 in January and soared to 233,000 through February — a 958% rise since December.

While some of this growth may be attributed to Signal having lower saturation than in other markets, the app’s sustained position at the top compared to similar-sized neighboring markets is notable.

“No other markets come close to the Netherlands in terms of growth between December and February,” AppFigures told TechCrunch.

For comparison, since December, Belgium has seen downloads grow by more than 250%, Sweden by 153%, and Denmark by 95%.

So why might Signal be experiencing what one Redditor called a “mass adoption moment” in the Netherlands?

Clear signal

Rejo Zenger, senior policy advisor at Dutch digital rights foundation Bits of Freedom, said that while it’s difficult to pinpoint one specific reason, he’s not surprised.

Recent developments in the U.S. have seen the big platform providers align with the new Trump administration, and this has stoked significant public and media debate. Europe’s reliance on technology from huge private U.S. companies has become a focal point in that debate.

“The Dutch are, just like many others, highly dependent on the infrastructure provided by extremely dominant tech companies, mostly from the U.S.,” Zenger told TechCrunch. “What this means, and the risks that come from this, have been nicely demonstrated in the past few weeks. As a result, the public debate in the Netherlands has been relatively sharp. Where in the past this problem was only discussed on the level of ‘which instant messenger should I use,’ I feel now we are having the debate on higher levels as well: ‘we should get rid of this dependency.’”

In that context, the public could be conflating dominance with data protection abuse. With companies like Meta regularly being investigated and fined over data privacy practices, Signal might appear the lesser evil: it’s based in the U.S., but operated by a non-profit that ensures encryption of both message content and the metadata around it.

Vincent Böhre, director at Dutch privacy organization Privacy First, also pointed to increased media coverage and a broader shift in public opinion.

“Ever since Trump was re-elected in the U.S. a few months ago, there has been a lot of ‘bashing’ of Trump and [Elon] Musk in Dutch — and European — mainstream media, including bashing of American Big Tech companies, which now seem to be supportive of Trump,” Böhre told TechCrunch. “Articles criticizing X [formerly Twitter] and Meta have been popping up in Dutch media everywhere, leading to a shift in Dutch public opinion: even people who never really knew or cared about privacy and security in social media, have now suddenly become interested in ‘privacy-friendly’ alternatives, Signal in particular.”

Signal of intent

While the Netherlands is just one market of 18 million people in a European population of more than 700 million, its surge in adoption could signal a broader trend across the continent, especially as governments seek to bring down privacy barriers.

Apple, for example, recently pulled end-to-end encryption from iCloud in the U.K. to counter government efforts to install a backdoor.

Speaking at RightsCon 25 in Taiwan this week, Whittaker reaffirmed Signal’s unwavering stance on privacy.

“Signal’s position on this is very clear –- we will not walk-back, adulterate, or otherwise perturb the robust privacy and security guarantees that people depend on,” Whittaker said. “Whether that perturbation or backdoor is called client-side scanning, or the stripping of the encryption protections from one or another features similar to what Apple was pushed into doing in the U.K.”

Separately, in an interview with Swedish public broadcaster SVT, Whittaker said Signal would not comply with a proposed Swedish law requiring messaging app-makers to store messages.

“In practice, this means asking us to break the encryption that is the foundation of our entire business,” Whittaker said. “Asking us to store data would undermine our entire architecture and we would never do that. We would rather leave the Swedish market completely.”

TechCrunch reached out to Signal for comment, but hadn’t heard back at the time of publishing.