Users have reportedly left WhatsApp in their drawers after the messaging service introduced controversial new terms and conditions.
The worldwide TSAP, which has more than two billion users worldwide, began warning users earlier this week to share data from the app with parent company Facebook, despite never promising to do so before.
This has led users to opt for signals and telegrams, which claim to provide full end-to-end encryption to protect user data.
WhatsApp options
The new WhatsApp terms and conditions, which users must look at and accept when opening the app, include advice that data will now be shared with Facebook.
Although this data does not include messages or calls sent using WhatsApp or the user’s location, it does include personal details used to set up the account, such as name and phone number, as well as information about the exact model of the device. No. Using, as well as the IP address.
“We want to make it clear that the policy update does not in any way affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family,” WhatsApp wrote in a company blog about the change.
“Instead, this update includes changes to the business message on WhatsApp, which is optional, and provides greater transparency about how we collect and use data.”
Users are told that they must accept the new terms by February 8, or not be able to access WhatsApp.
The warning does not apply to users in the UK and Europe, but is still being sent to devices in these regions. WhatsApp added that its practice of sharing data with Facebook was not new.
Users are now turning to alternative services like Telegram, which has seen its user base almost double in a matter of weeks. The application guarantees full end-to-end encryption for its users by keeping their conversations private.
Elsewhere, Signal, backed by the world’s richest man Elon Musk, recently tweeted that its user base has grown from nearly one million to more than a million users in a matter of days. The platform has added more capability to deal with the boom, and has introduced wider group chats and better image sharing to support its new users.
By the BBC
