A new announcement has been popping up on everyone’s WhatsApp telling them that its policies and conditions are being updated. Users have until February 9, to accept these new conditions, and WhatsApp has pointed to those users may not be able to access their WhatsApp accounts if they do not acknowledge the new terms and agreements. This latest update has caused a lot of fear over the new privacy policy, particularly with respect to data sharing with its parent company Facebook.
WhatsApp Messenger is an American freeware, cross-platform messaging and Voice over IP (VoIP) service owned by Facebook, Inc. It permits clients to send text messages and voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other media.
WhatsApp’s user application runs on mobile devices as well as accessible from desktop computers, as long as the client’s mobile apparatus remains connected to the Internet while they use the desktop app. The service needs users to offer a standard cellular mobile number for registering with the service.
It became the international most famous messaging application by 2015 and has three billion users across the globe as of February 2020. It has become the major means of electronic communication in several countries and locations, including Latin America, the subcontinent, and large parts of Europe and Africa.
The new announcement, policy
According to Facebook-owned WhatsApp’s new policy, it may share your information with its family of companies to help, maintain and integrate their activities and get better the services. Whatever information WhatsApp automatically collects from you will be shared with Facebook. This includes your mobile phone number and basic information you give when you create a WhatsApp account.
It also collects and shares user activity, how often you use WhatsApp, features you use, your profile photo, your status and ‘about’ information, aper the new police. The new update also collects device-level information like what device you use, your mobile network, IP address, among others. It also collects and uses precise location information from your device, but with your consent.
We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them, to help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services and their offerings, including the Facebook Company Products, WhatsApp says.
Your information could also be used by Facebook and its other products to make suggestions for you, personalize features and content, help you complete purchases and transactions, and show relevant offers and ads across the Facebook Company Products.
As users became aware of the details of the message, WhatsApp began to be heavily criticized on social media and other platforms. Users also started downloading other apps called Telegram and Signal.
Telegram and Signal
Soon after announcing its new policy, WhatsApp has come under severe criticism that it will share data with Facebook forcing users to switch for alternatives.
Amid the ongoing controversy over the new policy, Signal and Telegram have emerged as more reliable and secure modes of communication. Signal, the platform, which supports all the features of WhatsApp, can be downloaded from the App Store and Google’s Play Store.
Moreover, Signal has a clear standing on its privacy policy. The platform has included multiple features to support privacy such as view-once media, Signal PIN, and more. It is an independent platform, which means that development is supported purely by donations from users.
Just like WhatsApp, Signal relies on end-to-end encryption for messaging, based on the Signal Protocol, and does not keep records of the user’s metadata. Telegram is another app that can be used as an alternative. Like Signal and WhatsApp, it provides a cross-platform solution for messaging with end-to-end encryption.
Telegram is not just end-to-end encryption that the company uses; the app also relies on a distributed infrastructure to ensure privacy. As per the platform, Telegram is more secure than mass market messengers like WhatsApp and Line. We are based on the MTProto protocol, built upon time-tested algorithms to make security compatible with high-speed delivery and reliability on weak connections.
Clarification on the new update
WhatsApp administration issued a statement explaining that the new update does not change data-sharing practices with Facebook. As per the statement, WhatsApp will share account registration information, phone numbers, transaction data, service-related information, interactions on the platform, mobile device information, IP address, and other data collected based on users’ consent.
WhatsApp also issued a public statement regarding the privacy matter, as we announced in October, WhatsApp wants to make it easier for people to both make a purchase and get help from a business directly on WhatsApp. While most people use WhatsApp to chat with friends and family, increasingly people are reaching out to businesses as well.
WhatsApp started rolling out its app-update notifications last week claiming there had been a change in its Terms of Services and Privacy Policy. Users were informed that the application will handle their data rather differently owing to its new partnership with Facebook.
However, accepting this privacy policy was a prerequisite. Many users who had been on the application for years are required to agree to this new policy by February 8, 2021, if they wanted to continue using the service.
WhatsApp vs Telegram vs Signal
It’s clear and obvious that Signal is extremely secure, safe and private. If privacy is upmost of your priorities, Signal is the way to go for you. The Facebook-owned WhatsApp is vast as far as the exchange-to-exchange (E2E) encryption is concerned. But, with the new privacy strategy, I am finding it very difficult to recommend WhatsApp to anyone anymore.
Alternatively, Telegram messenger could not be also best in terms of security. Though, it offers a boatload of features that are adequate to make any group admin drool. Plus you do obtain end-to-end encryption on Telegram, albeit restricted to covert chats.
In the end, I’d propose going with Telegram if you want more features than the average messenger. You can think about Signal if you’re looking for the necessary messaging and calling features besides a high-standard of security. Though, WhatsApp is looking dicier than ever at present with the new policy update.
