A few days ago something of a storm erupted around the changes to the Whatsapp privacy policy and the requirement to share certain data with Facebook. While the changes do result in a not-insignificant amount of data being shared to Facebook, it’s not as bad as some make it out to be.
While many have read and understood the changes, there has been a significant migration of users away from their platform. This migration of users has prompted Whatsapp to directly respond, with pictures to dispel some of the rumours.
We want to address some rumors and be 100% clear we continue to protect your private messages with end-to-end encryption. pic.twitter.com/6qDnzQ98MP
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) January 12, 2021
Of course, there are still some concerns around the increased data sharing between the platforms. While many will stay put for the convenience, both Telegram and Signal have enjoyed impressive growth this last week.
If you’ve been using Whatsapp, are you staying put or heading elsewhere?
Is WhatsApp lying about sharing contacts with Facebook, or have reports about that (such as your linked previous story) got that issue wrong?