If you own a smartphone, there is a very high chance that you are a WhatsApp user.  The simple and lightweight online messaging application has embedded itself into our lives and has become indispensable.  Family groups, friend groups, office groups, play groups and many other groups like these see millions of conversations happening on a daily basis.  Millions of people across the world use Whatsapp for multiple purposes.  Beginning from a simple user to user online text messaging app, over the years Whatsapp has grown exponentially by adding a lot of features like payments, location sharing, pictures and video sharing, document sharing, group chats and calls.

Whatsapp users received a message upon opening the app on their phone which conveyed information regarding a privacy policy update.  The notification carried information regarding how Whatsapp processes user data and how Whatsapp partners with Facebook to offer integration across Facebook company products.  Failure to accept the policy meant a user could not use Whatsapp anymore after February 8th, 2021.  This led to a huge outcry on social media about how Whatsapp is abusing user data and user privacy.  Facebook and Whatsapp have always been in the spotlight time and again around discussions regarding user data privacy.  But the latest policy update from Whatsapp looked like the last straw.

Millions across the world were looking for alternate platforms to migrate to from Whatsapp where they felt their data would be protected.  Telegram and another recent app named Signal, suddenly saw an influx of new users following the recent Whatsapp privacy policy update.

Signal in particular saw a huge spurt in registrations following Tesla founder Elon Musk’s tweet which said Signal in response to a user asking Musk what is a good alternative to Whatsapp. 

Use Signal

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2021

On January 12th, 2021, nearly 800,000 users installed Signal globally.  Signal could not handle the influx and their SMS verification failed to function properly.  Signal has since then added more servers to cope with the surge in app downloads.  Signal said the only information it collects is the phone number and they do not assign a name to the number.  Whatsapp on the other hand collects a slew of data as shown in the picture below.

Whatsapp released a statement which said it is committed to protecting user data privacy and that their end to end encryption still works.  Their response says “Our privacy policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family (sic.)”

We want to address some rumors and be 100% clear we continue to protect your private messages with end-to-end encryption. pic.twitter.com/6qDnzQ98MP

— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) January 12, 2021

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Whatsapp data is instead used to improve Facebook user experience.  Facebook is benefiting from Whatsapp by generating a huge wealth of consumer behavior data which inturn is being used to improve the ads on Facebook.   

In this day and age when the internet is making its way to every nook and corner of the world, companies are increasingly developing an internet ecosystem in order to make lives easier.  These ecosystems learn from gathering continuous data.  While it is hard to pinpoint how much data should be collected and kept private and how much could be used to improve quality of lives, the choice ultimately lies with the individual.

Let us know if you are going to continue using Whatsapp or will move to SIgnal in the comments below.