Latest changes to messaging service WhatsApp’s privacy policy is making all of the users worldwide to spark anger. The company has announced on the 6th of January that it will force all the users to share and link the information with Facebook if they want to keep using the service.
Unless people agree to these new terms, they will be locked out of WhatsApp on the 8th of February. Some privacy advocates have questioned the move, citing Facebook’s track record in handling user data.
Anatoliy Gruzd who is an associate professor and Canada Research Chair in privacy-preserving digital technologies at Ryerson University said, “Every time a company combines data from multiple sources, multiple platforms, it raises privacy concerns because it increases the possibility that people can be identified, that a company knows more about you”.
He also added, “WhatsApp users are concerned about the increased integration with Facebook”.
The updated privacy policy requires all the users to “agree” for them to share data it collects about you. The data are surprisingly private and confidential data such as your phone number and location with Facebook.
This data will be shared with the broader Facebook network, such as Instagram and Messenger, and applies regardless of whether you have accounts or profiles there. The option to share data with Facebook has existed on the app for years, but up until now, it was only an option.
The terms now clearly state that “WhatsApp receives information from, and shares information with, the other Facebook companies. We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them, to help operate” and market services.
It has prompted some people online and including Tesla’s founder that is Elon Musk. He calls for users to leave the app and use more privacy-focused messaging services like Signal or even Telegram. Other than that, American whistleblower Edward Snowden also tweeted, “I use Signal app every day and I’m not dead yet”. Next, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s media office and the country’s defense ministry announced, they were dropping WhatsApp after the policy changes and opened a probe into the move.
Because of all the tweets stated by all these influential people, the Signal app has become the top free app on both Google and Apple’s app stores in most countries around the world. More than 8,800,000 people downloaded Signal on iPhones and Android phones in the week of Jan. 4. Another app that could be a Whatsapp alternative, that is Telegram was said on Tuesday that more than 25 million people had joined in the last 72 hours.
Will Cathcart that is the head of WhatsApp explained, “It’s important for us to be clear this update describes business communication and does not change WhatsApp’s data-sharing practices with Facebook”. He also added, “It does not impact how people communicate privately with friends or family wherever they are in the world”
Sources: Appfigures, BuzzFeed News.