Whats-app new privacy policy, A boon or a ban
With the onset of 2021, our daily dose of life “whats app” has changed their privacy policy.
Amid continuing concerns over its new privacy policy released a few days ago, WhatsApp had to clarify yet again that the policy changes nothing for those messaging friends and family. It also clarified that in some conditions, business messages — “different than messaging with your family or friends” — can be read by Facebook and could be used for marketing purposes. The latest clarification brings in what seems like a differentiation between “messages with friends or family” and “messages with a business”. It says the new privacy policy pertains to the latter alone and the former remains unchanged.
You can go through the latest privacy policy on the below link: https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/updates/privacy-policy
Users have started using other apps like Signal and Telegram. For comparison between Whats-app, Signal and Telegram, see the below chart:
Elon Must CEO Tesla has also tweeted that use signal. Today its one of the most downloaded app on Android and iOS.
Source: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1347165127036977153
Telegram which is currently number 2 behind signal on the Android and iOS saw more than 25 million new users sign up in last 72 hours.
What does it mean when you are using Whats app with your family and friends :
1) Neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can “see your private messages or hear your calls”. Personal messages are protected by end-to-end encryption and will continue to be so.
2) WhatsApp does not keep logs of who anyone is messaging or calling, because it considers a data dump of this kind a “privacy and security risk”.
3) WhatsApp cannot see a location you have shared with a friend as that too is protected by end-to-end encryption.
4) WhatsApp does not share a user’s contacts with Facebook, or any other app.
5) No data from groups will be shared with Facebook for ad purposes and all the communication within is end-to-end encrypted. So, if you are a member of an office, RWA or school group, there is nothing to worry as nothing changes for you.
Should I stay on WhatsApp or migrate to other app?
There is no need to move out of WhatsApp if you use it primarily to communicate with friends and family. Signal is topping the charts on Apple’s App Store and it appears to be driven by downloads from India, according to a tweet from the company.
Signal too offers end-to-end encryption (E2E), similar to WhatsApp, but it is run by a non-profit co-founded by WhatsApp founder Brian Acton. Signal’s E2E protocol is actually used by WhatsApp. It has a number of features that WhatsApp offers, but some such as group video calling are still in the beta stage. It also lacks some of the convenience WhatsApp offers such as the ability to back up all your chats to a third-party service such as Google Drive or iCloud, or the ability to connect to business accounts.
Another encrypted messaging app is Telegram, created by Russian brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov, with features similar to WhatsApp. It is more evolved than Signal because it has been around since 2013. Telegram groups can be made visible to all or keep private.
The biggest advantage of WhatsApp is that it is ubiquitous and everyone on your contact list is using it. On Signal, even now, you have to go looking for users to chat with. But the app will make sense if an entire group decides to move conversations there. If you are thinking of quitting WhatsApp but still continuing to use Facebook products such as Messenger, Instagram and Facebook itself, then the exercise will be pointless.
Its for the users to decide to stay on whats app or move to other apps which are safer to use and have a better privacy policy.
PC-Google
