[ad_1]
WhatsApp, the encrypted messaging app owned by Facebook, announced on Friday that it was delaying its new privacy policy by three months, citing confusion and “a lot of misinformation.”
The update, which was due to go into effect on February 8, aims to update the app’s terms of service and privacy policy, expanding the way business users of the app can store their communications.
This includes “new options that people will have for messaging a business on WhatsApp,” the company said in a blog post.
WhatsApp – and others like Signal and Telegram – offer what’s called end-to-end encryption, which means all messages (photos, videos, etc.) sent and received through the app can only be accessed via phones at the sending and receiving end (or other authorized devices, such as browsers and desktops).
News of the update initially sparked skepticism from users about privacy concerns.
And Gab? What is Gab, the social network that is gaining popularity with conservatives?
Talking goes out:Amazon suspends social platform from its web hosting services
But this is not something new. In 2016, two years after acquiring WhatsApp, the company launched a major policy update in which it began sharing user information and metadata with Facebook, as reported by Wired.
Growing unease over the personal information being pulled, combined with more aggressive moderation from social media tech giants, has recently prompted more Americans to look into encrypted messaging.
Talking going dark can also be a factor in the growth of apps. And one prompted by Elon Musk to “use Signal” doesn’t hurt either.
Signal creator Moxie Marlinspike said in a 2015 interview: “Privacy is at its lowest and surveillance at its highest.”
Here’s how Signal and Telegram stack up on privacy:
Signal
The Signal app is a free messaging and voice calling app that supports end-to-end encryption for all features, which means no one can access your information other than the intended recipient.
“I use WhatsApp for work, but I was there first with my kids when they were overseas. Two were on deployment, one continued to use WhatsApp but the other was on deployment. special ops (so we) had to switch to Signal due to security protocols, â€Twitter user @ simpse01 said.
With Signal, you sign up with your phone number, and after that the app knows next to nothing about your account, because even to find out and send you information, the app sends a different set of numbers to act as that contact.
Information is neither transmitted nor stored on Signal’s servers. “Your message history is stored on your own devices,†says the app’s privacy policy.
Signal tweeted on Sunday that it continued “to break traffic records and increase capacity as more and more people accept how much they don’t like Facebook’s new terms.”
Telegram
“We do not use your data to show you advertisements,” says Telegram’s privacy policy. One of its great attractions is the fact that users do not have to link it to a phone number (after registration). Instead, the app uses a username to add contacts.
“We do not store or process your personal data, rather we store and process random sequences of symbols which have no meaning without the keys we do not have,” the policy states about its end-to-end encryption. .
The app collects basic device data and IP addresses for moderation. And if you want to use a two-factor email authentication system, the company will see that as well. But for those looking for an alternative to a Facebook-owned platform, this might not be a deciding factor.
[ad_2]
