We’ve been WhatsApp users for several years, as quickly became the messaging app of choice for most people who have international connections. It has served us well, with its simple interface and ease of use, reliability and until now, privacy.
But now WhatsApp is rolling out a new privacy policy that threatens to change all that. Under the new policy, in certain instances, user data could be made available to their parent company, Facebook. Some believe this disclosure of information may have already occurred! Facebook has put out an “accept it or leave” ultimatum, so if the user refuses they won’t be able to use the platform.
After the update, WhatsApp will be collecting even more data and will have the right to share it, through Facebook, with outside entities including other companies and advertisers. As we know, the more widely spread information becomes, the ore risk for exposing it to further outside entities. Under some circumstances, this could potentially even include customer messages and data.
We find this unacceptable, so we began researching alternative messaging platforms. We were looking for a platform that was easy to use with a clean interface, highly secure and not related to any commercial entity.
Enter Signal. Like WhatsApp, Signal uses standard cellular telephone numbers to identify users, has a simple, familiar interface and operates in a similar manner. It provides secure communications to other Signal users with end-to-end encryption, but as it a completely open-source platform, developed by the non-profit Signal Technology Foundation and Signal Messenger LLC. Using the Internet, users can send one-to-one and group messages, which can include files, voice notes, images and videos. It is also possible to place realtime user to user telephone and video calls.
We think Signal is the ideal replacement for WhatsApp, and we’ll be moving to it. Hope to see you there!