Changes to WhatsApp’s privacy terms have caused an exodus of users to rivals Telegram and Signal.
WhatsApp, a messaging service owned by Facebook that has more than two billion users, recently announced controversial changes in its privacy terms, leading to a mass exodus of users to rival platforms, particularly Telegram and Signal.
Users outside Europe who do not accept the new conditions before February 8 will be cut off from the messaging app.
WhatsApp says the changes will help it integrate better with Facebook, but technology experts and privacy advocates have raised concerns about data security.
Here are four things you should know about the problem:
How is the new privacy of WhatsApp?
Under the new terms, WhatsApp reserves the right to share user data, including location and phone number, with its parent company Facebook Inc and other apps belonging to the social networking giant – Instagram and Messenger. Data sharing was optional until now, but from February 8 it will be mandatory. Technology experts say the move is aimed at monetizing WhatsApp.
Why is it causing users to escape?
Many users are concerned about the change, as Facebook has a poor track record in handling user data.
Some privacy activists have appealed to WhatsApp users on Twitter to switch to apps like Signal and Telegram, questioning the “accept our data capture or quit” move.
Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, born in Russia, said: “People no longer want to exchange their privacy for free services.”
What other rival apps are benefiting?
More than 100,000 users have installed Signal in Apple and Google’s app stores in the past two days, while Telegram has obtained nearly 2.2 million downloads, according to data analytics company Sensor Tower.
New WhatsApp installations dropped 11 percent in the first seven days of 2021 compared to the previous week, but still totaled about 10.5 million downloads globally, Sensor Tower said.
Both Telegram and Signal are encrypted messaging applications, which guarantees greater privacy. They do not allow strangers or the platform itself to view the content of messages.
What is WhatsApp doing about it?
The company tried to reassure users, saying in a blog post that WhatsApp cannot see your private messages or listen to your calls, and neither can Facebook.
“We don’t keep records of who everyone is texting or calling. We cannot see their shared location and neither can Facebook, ”he added.
The location data, along with the message content, is encrypted from end to end, according to WhatsApp.
But other metadata, such as call logs, location, financial information, etc., can be shared if you are using WhatsApp.
“We are giving companies the option of using Facebook’s secure hosting services to manage WhatsApp chats with their customers, answer questions and send useful information, such as purchase receipts,” said WhatsApp in the post.
“Whether you communicate with a company by phone, email or WhatsApp, he can see what you’re saying and can use that information for his own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook.”