WhatsApp, the encrypted messaging app that prides itself as a privacy-focused service, recent privacy policy ultimatum that gave users up to the 8th of February to agree to share their data with Facebook has caused many of its users to flee to Signal, a smaller encrypted messaging app. Certainly! The move prompted calls for users to delete their WhatsApp accounts and switch to smaller encrypted messaging apps such as Telegram and Signal.
The fact that Signal could not keep up with requests for verification codes shows how people are reacting to WhatsApp and its new privacy policy. For those who may not have come across Signal before, it’s a messaging app that is similar to WhatsApp.
It offers end to end encryption, it had self-destructing messages long before WhatsApp rolled them out this year, Signal group chats are user-based rather than server-based meaning messages never leave your phone. This also ensures that the server can’t tell if a message was generated in a group or in a private chat. On top of that, Signal is open source, which means anyone to examine its source code under a GPLv3 licence for clients and AGPLv3 for the server.
The biggest thing of all (in this case) is that Signal doesn’t have an entity like Facebook pulling its strings. You can communicate relatively securely and without having to worry about Big Brother siphoning off your information in order to send you targeted ads. Lastly, Signal is what WhatsApp was before the Facebook takeover, and many who prefer a (relatively) private and secure messaging service have long since abandoned WhatsApp for Signal or Telegram.
“Signal and Telegram are now better alternatives if you are concerned about your privacy,” the TechCrunch editor Mike Butcher tweeted. He shared comparisons of the data WhatsApp collects versus what Signal and Telegram collect.
—Mike Butcher (@mikebutcher) January 7, 2021
Tesla CEO Elon Musk who has been more vocal in his criticism of Facebook in recent years, followed up the meme with a suggestion to his 41.5 million followers was among those who recommended users to switch services, tweeting tweeting, “Use Signal.” Nine hours earlier, Musk seemed to criticized Facebook, via a sardonic meme, as bearing responsibility for the rioters who attacked the US Capitol on Wednesday. Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014, and in 2016 it gave users a one-time chance to opt out of sharing app data with Facebook.
A WhatsApp spokeswoman told Ars Technica the change was to allow businesses to store WhatsApp chats using Facebook’s broader infrastructure. The spokeswoman did not clarify why the platform decided to make the change but said it would not affect EU- and UK-based users.
“There are no changes to WhatsApp’s data sharing practices in the European region (including UK) arising from the updated Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. For the avoidance of any doubt, it is still the case that WhatsApp does not share European region WhatsApp user data with Facebook for the purpose of Facebook using this data to improve its products or advertisements.”
The WhatsApp founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum left the company in 2017 and 2018. Acton has spoken about his departure, which followed the decision to introduce ads to WhatsApp, and has called for people to “delete Facebook.” Koum’s departure was also surrounded by reports that he had clashed with management over the company’s approach to user privacy on WhatsApp.
But what’s happening now appears to be a bit of context collapse on social media, as WhatsApp users think they’re now being forced to share data with Facebook even though that’s been happening all along if they didn’t opt out back in 2016. None of this is helped by Facebook and WhatsApp’s recent attacks on Apple for the iPhone maker’s decision to mandate new self-reported labels on iOS apps and its future plans to force app makers to request permission to track Apple device owners.
The new privacy policy notice doesn’t help Facebook’s cause, either, considering it tells users displeased with the changes — which, again, are about how businesses manage their chats on WhatsApp using Facebook’s backend — to “delete their account,” with no other remedies provided.
All of this has created a perfect storm on social media in which WhatsApp users appear to be fleeing the platform in large numbers to join Signal, a nonprofit-run encrypted messaging app not owned by the largest social network on the planet. It’s worth mentioning too that Signal Messenger, LLC, the software organization that manages product development from Signal, was co-founded and funded by Brian Acton, the disillusioned WhatsApp co-founder who has publicly slammed his former employer’s privacy practices.
The silver lining for Signal is that this combination of events is generating a whole lot of interest for its platform as both a viable mobile messaging app and alternative to the Facebook ecosystem.
In response to the controversy, WhatsApp has issued a lengthy statement clarifying that the updated privacy policy “does not change WhatsApp’s data sharing practices with Facebook”:
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. To further increase transparency, we updated the privacy policy to describe that going forward businesses can choose to receive secure hosting services from our parent company Facebook to help manage their communications with their customers on WhatsApp. Though of course, it remains up to the user whether or not they want to message with a business on WhatsApp.
The update does not change WhatsApp’s data sharing practices with Facebook and does not impact how people communicate privately with friends or family wherever they are in the world. WhatsApp remains deeply committed to protecting people’s privacy. We are communicating directly with users through WhatsApp about these changes so they have time to review the new policy over the course of the next month.
As good as Signal is, the one thing it doesn’t have in Zimbabwe is a dedicated data bundle. This is a significant mark down for the app even though it has many upsides. WhatsApp is also something familiar and an app that many people in the country use so…even with the new privacy policy I don’t see many people moving off it anytime soon.
1 Comment
Pingback: WhatsApp Faces EU Consumer Complaints over Policy Changes | Innovation Village | Technology, Product Reviews, Business