©STAN HONDA / AFP
User concerns
WhatsApp continues to update terms of service. In order to reassure users, a new banner will appear. Will WhatsApp lose many users to other offers like Signal?
—Atlantico: Despite the controversy over the transfer of data between WhatsApp and his house misre Facebook, l’messaging app persists in updating its conditions of’use. To convince, it will display on the users screen a banera clearly indicating what changes and what does not. Does this strategy of transparency have anything to convince?
Anthony Poncier : Not exactly because WhatsApp communicated awkwardly and users’ concern came from the bottom and not from the form. Currently, WhatsApp is not going back, the company considers it has communicated poorly and is implementing a better communication plan. During this period, many people learned that WhatsApp was part of Facebook. The latter not being the benchmark in terms of privacy protection, users have discovered a new facet of instant messaging.
The new terms of use were to be put in place on February 8 and this was postponed until May 15, but in absolute terms we are coming back to the same things. Only a banner has been placed to inform of new confidentiality information and that the majority of the WhatsApp business service is affected. What does not change and what is interesting to know is that WhatsApp does not allow more data with Facebook in order to optimize its service. Basically the service was doing this before without people knowing.
In Europe, it should be remembered that we are still protected by the GDPR. The impact is therefore different in the European Union than in the rest of the world.
Are we going to see a leak of users to other more secure messaging systems like Signal?
Many users will open accounts on Signal, but will keep a WhatsApp account. It remains the dominant messaging on the market. In any messaging, if your contacts are not on it, to exchange you must go elsewhere. A majority of exchanges are still done on WhatsApp more than on Signal. WhatsApp in counter attack has also pointed out certain applications that do not offer end-to-end encryption like Telegram.
Those who refuse the new terms of use will be deprived of the messages functionality but will still be able to receive calls. Why this choice ?
A message must be sent while the call, if the application is installed, can be received. When we receive a call we are a receiver and not an actor. It is also a strategy on the part of WhatsApp, if we continue to receive things from the outside, we can ask ourselves the question of returning to the service in order to send a message. Without saying it, they encourage users to come back and sign the new TOS. It is an open door left to a possible return.
– .
