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Once again, controversy arises about the privacy policy on instant messaging applications, especially after the announcement of “WhatsApp” to prevent its users who refuse to agree to its new conditions from using their accounts as of the eighth of next February.
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As soon as the user logs into the “WhatsApp” application, a message appears in front of him asking him to update the privacy policy of the application.
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The new policy allows “WhatsApp” to share some of its users’ data with the “Facebook” company that owns the application and allocates a space to interact with ads.
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The new changes were met with widespread criticism on social media, as commentators accused the application of violating their privacy.
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Some users of the application also complained about the activation of the new terms of use without seeing their details.
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While tweeters published a list of applications, they said that it “has a strong encryption feature and takes into account privacy, such as the” Telegram “application.
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In a brief tweet on Twitter, Tesla President Alon Musk advised his followers to use the “Signal” app.
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Another commented: “What is the reason for this” fear “of privacy adjustments in WhatsApp? In my opinion, the issue is nothing more than a competition for the market?
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What is the difference between WhatsApp and Signal? What data will WhatsApp share with Facebook?
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What do we know about the new WhatsApp update?
WhatsApp is one of the largest applications of the Facebook company. It has about 2.2 billion users worldwide, and it is the most downloaded application on smartphones.
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In August 2016, WhatsApp performed a major update to the Privacy Policy.
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The WhatsApp administration was not satisfied with these procedures, so it added new updates days ago.
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The new terms provide for collecting information and sharing it with other Facebook companies such as phone number, account picture, and user activities on the application in addition to specifying the digital identifier (IP) of the computer or the user’s phone, location and language.
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It also includes collecting information about payment transactions and users’ financial data.
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Facebook aims to “develop sales and earning services by allowing advertisers to communicate with their customers through WhatsApp, or even sell their products directly through the platform.”
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The administration said, “WhatsApp”, in a statement sent to the French News Agency, that “the data that may be shared between” WhatsApp “and the rest of the” Facebook “applications will not include the content of messages that remain encrypted.
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But it seems that these assurances did not dispel the suspicions of the application users who decided to resort to the “Signal” application after Elon Musk invited his followers to use it.
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It is reported that Musk, who is on the throne of the world’s richest, has more than 40 followers Someone on Twitter.
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More than 100,000 people have downloaded the “Signal” application on their devices during the past two days, while Telegram has been downloaded about two million times, according to the data analysis company, Sensor Tower.
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Signal, in turn, announced heavy pressure on its platform.
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What are the differences between “Signal and WhatsApp”?
Signal was first launched in 2014.
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The company that owns the app receives funding from non-profit organizations dedicated to ensuring freedom of expression. It is a very popular application among journalists.
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It is believed that it is difficult for a third party to penetrate the Signal talks.
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However, an Israeli spy company said that its technology had managed to penetrate it, an investigation reported to Haaretz late last year.
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There are many similarities between the two applications, “WhatsApp” and “Signal”, as they both use the same “end-to-end” encryption technology, which means that messages cannot be decrypted while they are being sent between devices.
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But the differences between them are radical, according to what technical content creator Osama Essam El Din said in an interview with Trend Blog.
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“The Signal application uses an open source private encryption system, which gives experts the opportunity to examine the basic code at any time, while the WhatsApp application does not allow to examine its code easily,” he explains.
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It also allows “WhatsApp” to store a large amount of data related to the user and his activities. It will collect more information with the next update to share with the Facebook group.
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“WhatsApp will not collect the user’s real data, but rather use the metadata, which are algorithms that describe to other Facebook companies your interests and your activities,” according to technical expert Osama Essam El-Din.
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“For example, if you want to buy a specific device or visit a theater, WhatsApp analyzes your interests and sends them to Facebook so that it can display ads that may attract you.”
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Usually some commercial companies use “WhatsApp” to communicate with their customers, so a few years ago, the Facebook group launched the “WhatsApp Business” application to reap more profits.
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But it is completely different with Signal, as it will not keep information about you or your activities, nor will it share it with a third party.
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The app also denies there is a plan to include ads, at least for now.
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