Do privacy focused apps need to be open source?
Some privacy focused people say they are concerned about trusting apps like WhatsApp because they are from Meta and you can't read the source code. Other apps, like Signal, do let you see their code, but don't seem to be gaining ground in the marketplace. How important is open source when it comes to trusting an application on privacy?
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yes of course they always should be IMO
I think this is an interesting question, especially with the examples you mentioned. Regarding the actual end-users (for cases such as Signal and Whatsapp), I don't believe they actually care about whether or not it is open-source. Moreover, I don't think a lot of them would even know what the word means. Even if something was open-source, 99% of end-users wouldn't be able to understand what the code does so it would provide very little value to them.
In my opinion, the actual marketing, underlying technology, UX etc. would contribute more to whether people use the service.
With that being said, just because most end-users don't know or care what open-source is, doesn't mean it doesn't add value. Particularly for privacy-focused services, I think
it being open-source definitely can encourage people to use it, even more so if it is targeted at a technical crowd.
I agree. Would it make any difference to you if a closed sourced app went through a security audit and received a certification from an independent security organization?
In my opinion, if a closed-source app went through an independent security audit then I would definitely view it as more safe and secure.