A blog by Sanjana Rayavarapu

Ever since WhatsApp has announced an update in its terms of Service and Privacy Policy, there has been controversy all over the App. Let's try to understand what exactly changes after the Update.

WhatsApp has updated its privacy policy, and users have until February 8 to accept the new terms and conditions. The new policy says how user data is impacted when there is interaction with a business on the platform, and provides more details on integration with Facebook, WhatsApp’s parent company.

Will WhatsApp share your Messages to Facebook?🧐🤔

No. The privacy policy does not change the way WhatsApp treats personal chats. WhatsApp remains end-to-end encrypted — no third party can read them. In a statement, WhatsApp said: “The update does not change WhatsApp’s data sharing practices with Facebook and does not impact how people communicate privately with friends or family. WhatsApp remains deeply committed to protecting people’s privacy.”

Is WhatsApp storing your Messages?😳😬

No, says WhatsApp. According to the privacy policy, once a message is delivered, it is “deleted” from the company’s servers. WhatsApp stores a message only when it “cannot be delivered immediately” — the message can then stay on its servers “for up to 30 days” in an encrypted form as WhatsApp continues to try to deliver it. If undelivered even after 30 days, the message is deleted.

What data is WhatsApp sharing with Facebook?🙃🤨

WhatsApp shares the following information with Facebook and its other companies:

• Account registration information (phone number)
• Transaction data (WhatsApp now has payments in India)
• Service-related information
• information on how you interact with others (including businesses)
• Mobile device information
• IP address WhatsApp is also collecting more information at a device hardware level now.

Does it even Matter?😪🤦‍♀️

The policy gives reasons for the data-sharing with Facebook: from ensuring better security and fighting spam to improving user experience, which were there in the previous policy as well.

But the new policy is a further sign of WhatsApp’s deeper integration into the Facebook group of companies. CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2019 talked about his cross-platform vision across Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp — he called it “interoperability”.

Backlash due to this New Policy🌩😵

India is the largest market in terms of users for WhatsApp with over 400 million people who use the messaging app to communicate with their friends and family. The in-app update to users had mandated them to either accept the terms of service and privacy policy or lose access to chats. The move had caused users to move away from Facebook and its platforms.

Rival messaging app Signal beat not only WhatsApp but also Facebook and Instagram in weekly India downloads, perhaps pointing to to increasing concern over the data sharing policies of Mark Zuckerberg’s social media giant.

What does WhatsApp say about this?🙄😪

"WhatsApp was built on a simple idea: what you share with your friends and family stays between you. This means we will always protect your personal conversations with end-to-end encryption, so that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can see these private messages. It’s why we don’t keep logs of who everyone’s messaging or calling. We also can’t see your shared location and we don’t share your contacts with Facebook," it said.

WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram downloads saw a sharp fall in India during the week compared with the previous week. WhatsApp downloads fell 39% in the January 5-11 period versus a week earlier. Facebook downloads fell 19% and Instagram downloads fell 34%. The messaging app clarified that it had end-to-end encryption and the update does not expand its ability to share data with Facebook.

Should you Accept this Policy?🤷‍♀️😕

Yes, this is standard practice for most software. If you don’t want to, you can delete your account and switch to another service. A lot of people seem to be switching to Signal from WhatsApp. Signal is another messaging app, free and end-to-end encrypted, and which has gained a popularity push in light of the new WhatsApp policy. WhatsApp uses Signal’s protocol for its encryption. But Signal is not owned by any corporation, and is run by a nonprofit.

For more info: faq.whatsapp.com/general/security-and-priva..

What do you think is better?🤓🤩

WhatsApp or Signal?