Users deserting WhatsApp

Privacy policy prompts panic

MESSAGING APP SIGNAL has seen a surge in signups following panic about changes to WhatsApp’s privacy policy. WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world by a long way, with around two billion monthly active users. Facebook acquired the company for $19bn in 2014, and soon afterwards added end–to–end encryption, ensuring the privacy and security of users’ messages. In 2016, WhatsApp users received a one–time opportunity to opt out of sharing account data with Facebook. Now WhatsApp has notified users that as of February 8, 2021, their data will be shared with the parent company, with no opt–out. (It’s not clear whether any 2016 opt–out will continue to be honored.)

The data collected includes your phone number, the phone numbers of other people in your address books, profile names and pictures, status messages including when you were last online, IP address, and diagnostic data. If you object, WhatsApp’s user notice says, your only option is to stop using the app and delete it.

Users are reported to be doing this in big numbers, with many signing up to Signal, an open–source rival. The non–profit Signal Foundation was co–founded (and funded) by Brian Acton, one of the co–founders of WhatsApp, who left the company after the Facebook buy–out.

Ironically, the panic may be groundless: WhatsApp says the policy changes relate only to businesses managing WhatsApp chats using Facebook’s infrastructure, and nothing is changing with regard to personal chats. Unless you opted out in 2016, WhatsApp has been sharing your data with Facebook all along.

“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,” a representative explained. “WhatsApp remains deeply committed to protecting people’s privacy.”

If you live in Europe, WhatsApp is not permitted to share data with Facebook for ad–targeting purposes in any circumstances.