KOUDY: Signal is owned by the Signal Foundation, a nonprofit organization created to keep the app independent and free from ads or data tracking. It was co-founded in 2018 by Moxie Marlinspike, the app’s original creator and a respected privacy advocate, and Brian Acton, who famously co-founded WhatsApp before leaving Facebook over concerns about how it handled user privacy. Acton even invested $50 million of his own money to help Signal stay true to its mission.