Let’s start by saying that WhatsApp belongs to Facebook, or better WhatsApp IS Facebook. Already per this statement, you should completely delete your WhatsApp account.
But for many people, especially in the West and Europe, it remains the best messaging app because “all my friends keep it”. It’s sad to hear this statement because it seems to be in a sheep pen where no one cares about their privacy. To understand why we must not only delete WhatsApp but every account that belongs to the Facebook machine (Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and others) it’s useful to read about the Facebook scandal with Cambridge Analytica.
From February 8, 2021, WhatsApp will update its privacy policies. The new privacy policy further highlights how the companies of the Facebook group can use the information collected through WhatsApp. This data is used for:
In simple terms, Facebook will use your, and I repeat; your data, which should be private and only of your apprehension, of WhatsApp for profiling and advertising. For those who think that this leads Facebook to read all your conversations, you are wrong, perhaps. But keep in mind that even if your chats should be encrypted, a simple Gboard is enough to collect much of what you write.
Signal.
It’s used by journalists, activists, lawyers, researchers, dissidents, politicians, and security experts around the world and has the same functionality as WhatsApp by adding the concept of privacy. It is an open-source software application for Android, iOS, and Desktops that employs end-to-end encryption and can replace your default text messaging application. All other features can be found on their site.
Let’s explore some concepts that should lead people to think more with their heads when it comes to sharing data online.
Signal works under a non-profit, like Mozilla, called the Signal Foundation. Unlike WhatsApp, Signal is not tied to any major tech companies, and can never be acquired by one.
All the source code of the application is available online on GitHub, unlike others such as Telegram which doesn’t share all its code,and WhatsApp which doesn’t allow you to view how its application works.
Signal encrypts everything you could think of, including your profile photo, your voice and video calls, photos, attachments, stickers, and location pins. Have you ever searched for a GIF on WhatsApp? Your search terms are sent directly to GIPHY, which Facebook also owns. Signal works differently and avoids all this crap.
Signal doesn’t send unsecured backups of your messages to the cloud where they can be read by anyone but stored in an encrypted database on your phone and only you hold the key.
Signal is constantly evolving and continuously adding new privacy features. For example, one such feature is an Incognito Keyboard option that tells your keyboard not to learn from what you type on the app.
It’s interesting to note how a person can, rightly, be annoyed and angry if a thief enters the house and steals all his belongings; but if this happens with personal data, nobody cares. But yet it’s our online data, our life that we have built, that’s the most precious thing. Don’t throw it all in shit with a click on “I agree”.
Signal had a download bang, thanks too, from Elon Musk’s tweet and others.
It’s good to see that so many people have started to delete WhatsApp to use a privacy-focused application. From this, Reddit users (precisely Crazy-Lizard) have tried to raise awareness and make people understand the potential danger of WhatsApp and its policies with a series of slides that I recommend reading. Many of my friends have also signed up on Signal and this made me think that it’s time to try to delete Telegram.