Is WhatsApp's privacy policy really bad or it is overhyped ?

 

Hello every time I see that a trending topic comes up, everyone talks for a few days and then they forget and stop talking on that topic. We can take an example of WhatsApp privacy only when the topic was trending everybody used to talk about WhatsApp privacy. Many of us also uninstalled the app but the question is that is really WhatsApp privacy policy is bad or it is overhyped

Let’s see

we have always been a strong believer of user privacy but this time we have a different take about it hear me out so as you all know WhatsApp is now being criticized for its new privacy policy updates and people all over the internet are looking for WhatsApp alternatives now keeping the entire controversial privacy policy aside I believe this uninstall WhatsApp campaign have their fair share of problems.

 

Three reasons one no major change in WhatsApp privacy policy second lack of WhatsApp alternatives with similar user base and three lack of features

 

let's start with the first one now WhatsApp released a 12 page updated privacy policy which is long boring and too technical for average people but one of the most important thing this update is doing is establishing how WhatsApp will use your metadata so to answer your questions

Can WhatsApp see your chats? NO

Can WhatsApp see your photos? NO

Can WhatsApp see your video calls or group calls? Again no

Most things remain the same as before WhatsApp still uses end-to-end encryption so all your messages video calls, voice calls, photos and anything else you share are still end-to-end encrypted and nobody can see that however and this is the one that's getting the most criticism WhatsApp does not encrypt the metadata which is used to carry communication between two  endpoints 

 

Now while metadata does not allow anyone to read your messages it lets the government law authority or even WhatsApp advertiser know whom and when you message someone and for how long and I can see where Facebook is coming from here Facebook is essentially an advertising company which makes money by showing user targeted ads so from their perspective it makes sense to give a free messaging service and collect metadata in return while I’m not saying it's right to collect user data for targeting ads but if you are using Instagram or Gmail or even chrome it's kind of already happening

 The next reason I think WhatsApp alternative is overrated is the user base WhatsApp currently no doubt is the largest messaging service in the world with over 2 billion monthly active users while telegram on the other hand has 400 million and signal has 10 to 20 million monthly active users which is soon gonna change to give you perspective if 200 people use WhatsApp  only 40 people use telegram and just one or two people use signal so if you move the signal it's less likely to have your family members, friends on signal and that's the biggest reason most people can't jump ships from WhatsApp but having said all of that now is the time to make people aware about signal ask them to leave WhatsApp

And third thing to consider before leaving WhatsApp is features WhatsApp is the oldest player in town with a large user base and most importantly essential features well the new players such as telegram or signal  lack essential features for example to begin with telegram is not open source as the popular opinion and the chats are not end-to-end encrypted by default and personally telegram feels a bit shady at times with telegram groups that share illegal torrents and stuff it definitely needs some moderation before it can go mainstream. Signal on the other hand is really good everything is end-to-end encrypted but it also lacks WhatsApp stories, broadcast list, no gif, no real-time location sharing, cloud backup and WhatsApp payment etc. 

 

Now I know there are features that are exclusive to signal and telegram like note to self-secret chats and much more but nonetheless you will lose out on WhatsApp features that you have gone used to over a long period of time so after all of this what should you do now first of all there's no major change in WhatsApp privacy policy all WhatsApp chats voice message everything are still end-to-end encrypted that said Facebook will still collect metadata from WhatsApp to offer targeted ads and might even show ads in WhatsApp in future and if you don't like that idea which you should not then instead of looking for short-term solution like WhatsApp alternative look for long-term solution such as making your voice heard to the government so that they can make better privacy laws in India and force Facebook and all of its sibling companies to comply with the laws and it has already been done in EU if you don't know the WhatsApp privacy policy in the EU is quite different from the rest of the world while users in the European union can opt out of data sharing with Facebook the rest of the world and even India does not have the same choice

Notes:-

let me know what are your thoughts on the new WhatsApp privacy policy in the comment sect are you uninstall WhatsApp