Last week WhatsApp updated its privacy policy to point out that from now on some user data will be shared with parent company Facebook. Competitive messaging applications that provide end-to-end encryption have been known since then Download records.
According to Sensor Tower, Signal was installed around 7.5 million times in the App Store and the Google Play Store between January 6 and 10. That’s 43 times more than the previous week and more than any month in the history of the app. The numbers are also impressive for Telegram Secure Messaging, which was downloaded over 5 million times in four days.
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This surge in the popularity of the two applications follows the numerous articles reporting on the amendment to the WhatsApp policy, which will come into effect from February 8th and which must be accepted by users who are at risk of using the platform can no longer use. In 2016, while it was possible not to share your WhatsApp data with Facebook, this will no longer be the case. The company made it clear that the information in question was not conversations and that users’ messages were still encrypted:
“The information we share with other Facebook companies includes your account registration information (such as your phone number), transaction details, service information, and information about how you interact with them. notification or notification to others (including companies) when you use our services, mobile device information, your IP address and possibly other information provided in the section of the Privacy Policy entitled “Information We Collect” or from which we receive based on your consent ”.
With this data, Facebook wants to make WhatsApp a useful messaging service for businesses and consumers who can use it as customer service and for specific businesses. The app’s new privacy policy is also different for people in the European Union and the UK, who are protected by stricter privacy laws.
According to expert Adam Blacker, however, the increase in Telegram and Signal downloads should not affect WhatsApp: ” It’s too ingrained. I think there is a very small number of people who use WhatsApp on a daily basis and have recently deleted it. Even those who download and use Signal or Telegram will continue to use WhatsApp as this is where most of their friends and family are located. You can chat with some people on Signal, but you can still chat with their mom on WhatsApp ”, he explains.
One thing is certain, however: the rise of the two secure apps is further evidence of users’ distrust of Facebook, the image of which has been tarnished by numerous personal data scandals.
