“ What’s up with WhatsApp… ”

As you are all aware, WhatsApp has updated its privacy policy. Amongst other apps, WhatsApp is owned by Facebook which means we are now their customers. On top of that, they have now given us a deadline for us to accept their new terms otherwise we can no longer use the application. Facebook really said accept our terms or keep it pushing. They must have lost their minds.  Anyways, what does this new policy mean for you? 

Since Facebook is the parent company to WhatsApp, it has been rumoured that WhatsApp will share the following information with Facebook and other third-party apps: 

• Usage data
• Location
• Mobile device information
• IP address
• Mobile contacts (incl. personal)

Facebook has said that no third party will be able to access this information, but let’s hope they mean this. Only just recently, an app called Salaat First (an app that reminds Muslims when to pray) was found to be leaking the location of app owners. This is a big invasion of privacy and not only were their locations leaked, but it was also reported that they were being recorded and sold. It makes you think, what can the buyer do with this information? If WhatsApp is sharing that sort of data with Facebook, a data breach will prove to be catastrophic.

However, since the rumours have emerged, WhatsApp has come out and said that the new policy will not be affecting the privacy of our messages and will not send private data from the list above to Facebook. They have also given the option for us to download the data that they do send to Facebook, giving us full transparency. As I have stated in a previous blog, WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, so they will never be able to read our conversations or view our location. Trusting these organisations with our data is a bit hard because they are really beginning to build profiles of us and understand our behaviour patterns. If you’re having trust issues (and rightly so), there are alternative messaging applications where they’re not heavy on the data collecting.

Alternatives

There are alternatives to WhatsApp if you decide you’re not feeling the new policy. Signal and Telegram are both free messaging applications that have seen many downloads since the announcement of the new WhatsApp policy. Below I have broken down the most important features between the three services. I do think it serves our best interest to know what sort of data they will be collecting and sharing.

However, I do believe that even with these alternatives, they can turn around in the future and start selling our data, and it can become a never-ending cycle of trying to achieve peace of mind by knowing our privacy is intact. I say everyone comes to iMessage where we can play games (lol) and send messages in peace. I know my android people are thinking: “But what about us?”, yeah you’re on your own boy.

It’s good to see that society is starting to become more data conscious. I’m not saying that I’m the cause, but I was the catalyst still (yeah I said it). But, all jokes aside, privacy is VERY important, and to see these power-hungry organisations trying their best to collect everything about us is honestly quite sad.

Comment your thoughts below!

Love & Guidance

TT