Following the announcement of the new privacy policy and rules for the provision of services, the WhatsApp team faced harsh criticism from the Internet public and a massive exodus of users to other platforms.
The WhatsApp team did not react to the unfolding scandal for some time, but in the end, they realized that they would not be able to ignore it forever. And she began to assure users of the complete safety of the messenger. On WhatsApp’s Twitter page, a message appeared with “rumor-defying” infographics:
A detailed explanation of the situation was also published on a special page in the Q&A section of the WhatsApp website. The company assures:
“We responsibly declare that the changes made will in no way affect the privacy of your communication with friends and family. This update includes changes to WhatsApp messaging with companies (which you do at your discretion), as well as transparent information about how we collect and use data.”
Also noted:
- Neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can view your chat or listen to your calls
- WhatsApp does not store call and message logs
- Neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can view your location
- WhatsApp does not share your contacts with Facebook
- Group content is only available to their members
- You can use the disappearing messages mode to increase your privacy
However, users are moving en masse to competing platforms and this cannot be denied. The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, said that over the past few days, 25 million new users have joined Telegram.
According to Apptopia statistics, the Signal platform is experiencing a similar, albeit less impressive surge – the increase is approaching 1 million users daily, a record of 810 thousand installations was registered on Sunday. That’s 18 times the downloads on January 6, the day WhatsApp updated the policy.
