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Erdogan, Musk and Edward Snowden urge users to use other apps
Millions of users around the world have removed WhatsApp from their phones due to the threat of collecting their personal data, Reuters reported.
The two billion users of the chat app were asked to agree to the new privacy terms or to leave it before February 8.
WhatsApp updated its terms asking users to allow
Facebook yes
pick up your
data like
telephone
numbers and
Location
Mark Zuckerberg’s social network acquired the chat app for $ 19 billion in 2014. The change in data collection is part of Zuckerberg’s idea to combine all of his services: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The move has prompted many consumers to seek alternatives, and celebrities like Elon Musk, Edward Snowden, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have asked people to move to more privacy-focused services.
Even the creators of WhatsApp turned their backs on the app, and its co-founder Brian Acton admitted in an interview in 2018: “I sold my users’ privacy for greater profit. I made a decision and a commitment. And I live with that every day. “
To soften the blow, WhatsApp said the data it shared with the parent company did not include messages, groups or logs. The company added that its policies are in accordance with “applicable” privacy laws.
The company tried to reassure users by announcing in a post that the app
I can not read
your personal
messages or
to hear your
calls,
as well as Facebook.
While the new rules are not expected to lead to a significant change in the way data is shared with Facebook, they have sparked a debate over whether staying on WhatsApp is a good idea when the app is already so closely tied to the business. matrix. BBC.
However, the mass exodus from WhatsApp and the craze caused by the new policy show how much consumers value privacy.
In recent years, privacy has come to the fore, and many companies are giving consumers the power to control their own data, writes Forbes magazine.
The general EU data protection regulation and the California Consumer Protection Act, among other regulations, give consumers the right to know who collects their data, how it is used and even to request that it be deleted. In many ways, WhatsApp’s decision to share data goes against progress. According to experts, consumers take seriously the value of controlling and protecting their data. Users may be willing to share some of their personal information with brands and companies, but only if it improves personalization and the overall experience.
The changes caused
wave of interest
to others
Applications,
They offer the same tools for messaging, secure calling, and group chat features.
The Signal service announced that it was receiving so many registrations that its systems were overloaded, while the Telegram application revealed that its new users had increased by 500% or 6.5 million users. Both services offer encrypted messages. In this context, WhatsApp registered a drop in downloads of 11%.
“Telegram” founder Pavel Durov constantly criticized WhatsApp for security and privacy concerns, describing it as “dangerous” and stating that it would never be protected under Facebook’s limit.
“There has not been a single day in WhatsApp’s 10-year existence that the service was secure,” Durov wrote in 2020, after it was revealed that the billionaire
Jeff Bezos
was hacked
due to a security flaw in the application.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was one of the first to jump against the changes and abandon the app due to the change in privacy policy. There he stopped all correspondence with members of his party who used it.
The Turkish Defense Ministry also followed the example of the head of state. The move is part of Erdogan’s massive campaign against foreign social media. During the week, he joined Telegram and even posted his first message there. In a few hours, his channel had gained more than 25,000 subscribers, and currently more than 217,000 users have subscribed.
WhatsApp has more than 2 billion users worldwide, so even if millions of people choose to migrate, it is unlikely to have a major impact on the overall popularity of the program, according to Western publications. However, analysts predict that in the context of the new privacy landscape, companies that prioritize data protection and build trust with their customers will win.
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