You use Signal to avoid government surveillance.

I use Signal to avoid government accountability.

We are not the same.

Well I use it and have put it on relatives phones so they can communicate with me easily, ideally though I'd use Threema but yeah signals a lot better than other free alternatives.

Doesn't matter if the phone is rooted.

No.

Graham Fraser: Technology reporter.

Signal, compared with other messaging apps, has added security features to protect the privacy of its users. Conversations on the app are end-to-end encrypted, which means they can only be read by the recipients. Signal can’t even read what has been sent. But security is only as good as the person using it.

Link

Isn't hard to look up the BBC site, their pretty much making signal sound like an insecure hacking tool only used by dissidents.