[ad_1]
The messaging platform and fake news hub WhatsApp has announced that users must accept its new terms and services, where their data will be shared with parent company Facebook starting February 8.
WhatsApp said users must accept the updates if they want to continue using the app, or they can choose to delete their account otherwise. These new terms and privacy policy mark a sea change from WhatsApp’s previous policy of allowing users to choose not to share their data with Facebook, when it first announced plans to share user information and metadata with its parent company. in 2016.
Since all your data on WhatsApp now belongs to Facebook, here are some alternative messaging platforms to consider.
Telegram
Telegram has long been considered a great rival to WhatsApp, so it is not surprising that the company pushed fun on WhatsApp with memes on Twitter last week after the new terms and services policy was announced.
Telegram has secret chats that allow users to set messages to disappear after a certain period of time, with end-to-end encryption and a “do not send messages” feature with no time limit (compared to seven minutes of WhatsApp).
Telegram also supports voice and video calls with picture-in-picture mode. However, it does not support group video calling at this time.
While Telegram is free, founder Pavel Durov said he will begin monetizing the app in 2021 to support its growing amount of traffic and servers. Durov said he will not sell the company “like the founders of WhatsApp”, but will start charging for premium stickers and will introduce advertisements on massive public channels.
Signal
Signal boasted of receiving record levels of downloads after WhatsApp announced its new privacy policy. The app is a favorite with the likes of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and privacy advocate Edward Snowden, even with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. tweeting your support for Signal recently.
The company said its end-to-end encryption keeps user messages safe and does not track users for advertising or marketing purposes. Features include voice and video calls with multi-device support, group calls (currently limited to five participants), and marking some messages as unread. As the company is an independent non-profit organization, it relies on donations and grants to support development.
Threema
Threema smug that your downloads are “skyrocketing” due to WhatsApp’s privacy issue. He even said that if users are not paying for a service, then they are the product in a tweet on January 9.
Yes, you have to pay a one-time fee to start using Threema; RM12.99 on Android and US $ 2.99 (RM12) on iOS.
Users can set up a Threema ID without giving their phone number or email address. All forms of service communication are end-to-end encrypted using asymmetric cryptography (based on the open source NaCl library). Since Threema’s applications are open source, anyone with sufficient knowledge could apparently confirm Threema’s security for themselves.
Features include voice and video calls where users can also disable the feature if they wish not to receive any video calls (great for avoiding people) and create polls in chats. Unfortunately, Threema doesn’t include fun features like stickers or support for group calls, which can be a bummer for some.
Element
Element runs on the Matrix ecosystem, an open network for secure and decentralized communication. It claims that user data is kept safe with the default end-to-end encryption minus third-party access, data mining, or spying.
Users can register by email and create a Matrix ID to keep their email confidential. Other features include the option to create restricted rooms or group chats to limit access and allow Key Backup to store messages and files on user devices with video and voice chat.
Element is free, but users can upgrade to monthly plans starting at $ 2 (RM8) for more features like a dedicated server to host all of their data, custom DNS (domain name system), and more.
[ad_2]
