WhatsApp has taken a lot of criticism in the past few weeks. New terms of use, some of which were withdrawn in Germany, but which users still had to accept, caused a stir. For many it was the famous drop that broke the barrel. The result: a switch to alternatives such as Threema, Signal and Telegram. WhatsApp is now trying to appease its users with an action and is going on the offensive.
Attention attention!
After the developers last this new feature in WhatsApp and pointed out that biometric data such as fingerprints cannot be saved, the next step now follows. For a few days now, users have been receiving a message at the top of the status in which WhatsApp tries to explain itself. They claim that they cannot read or listen to your personal messages. Thanks to the end-to-end encryption. WhatsApp also wants to keep you updated on the status tab in the future.
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Why only now, WhatsApp?
WhatsApp has become the most popular messenger in this country in recent years. It’s hard to find a smartphone that doesn’t run the app. And yet, it seems, the developers paid little attention to their users. For a long time, hardly anything happened in terms of functions and design. It was only when Telegram and Co. gained more and more users last year that WhatsApp brought one or the other new function.
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Only now after that Echo When the new terms of use have become very loud, one tries to talk to users. You don’t collect fingerprints and chats are encrypted. Actually, both should go without saying. Instead, WhatsApp could educate its users about what is known about them. For example, that the messenger can record sound at any time via the microphones of your smartphone. Or that WhatsApp can take pictures and videos with the cameras of your smartphone at any time.
Usually Messenger doesn’t save your messages
The developers could explain why the messenger needs access to the microphones and cameras. Instead one reads under “dealing with intellectual property” on the developer’s website sentences like: “As explained in more detail in our privacy policy, we normally do not save our users’ messages when we offer our services.” What the word “normally” means here is not apparent from the further explanation.
