WhatsApp, the Facebook Inc-owned messenger business, has seen weeks of bad publicity recently since the company updated its privacy policy on January 4, 2021 among numerous privacy concerns over how the platform would share user data with its sister companies, Facebook and Instagram, and other third-party partners. Users of the WhatsApp platform, enraged by the company’s inconsideration to their personal privacy and data, chose to take to the internet and social media to share their discontent and advised friends, family, and the public to discontinue use of WhatsApp, opting instead for more privacy-focused messaging platforms namely Signal Messenger and Telegram.
The WhatsApp Messenger app has had over 5 Billion downloads in its lifetime and is widely considered the most popular and highly used messaging platform available to date. In comparison, Signal Messenger (50 Million downloads) and Telegram (500 Million downloads) come nowhere near to WhatsApp’s user base but have seen an increase in their respective adoption rates within the past couple of months. Even with all the controversy surrounding WhatsApp messenger and Facebook, however, millions of users still choose to retain their membership and use WhatsApp without a second thought. WhatsApp Messenger currently holds a monopoly with over 2 Billion active users currently with little to no sign of a drastic reduction of its userbase in the new future.
The use of the internet and modern technological devices is deeply engrained in our daily lives to the point that it is almost impossible to find someone who does not spend time online at any given time during the day or night. We all seem to have reached that point in society when it feels unnatural to go a day without sending messages to friends or family, updating one’s status on social media, sharing memes or articles, shopping online, communicating via email and streaming media (video, music, pictures). We have all become pretty much reliant on these technological companies that provide us with better and interesting platforms to express ourselves while many of us seem to ignore the elephant in the room for our own convenience.
So why have WhatsApp, and in turn Facebook Inc, become such a ‘ball and chain’ to us? Even with the drive to improve digital privacy and security online, many users seem to ignore and/or accept the potential consequences of continuing to use these platforms because leaving them would mean breaking the connections and comforts that they have become so accustomed to. This consensus is due to the fear of others not conforming to the same ideas, i.e.:
“If I leave WhatsApp, how will I receive communications from others who also refuse to leave or simply cannot stop using the platform with regards to WhatsApp for Business, business/company communications, or people who are generally technophobic?”
Concerns like this keep users on the platform, willingly or unwillingly, simply because it is too inconvenient to leave. In many cases, even adapting a secondary, more privacy-focused messaging app, is daunting to less tech-friendly users as it means having to learn and manage yet another technology. This train of thought is a bit flawed though because everyone generally has multiple social media apps and games installed on their digital devices and they had to learn about them all to start using them in the first place. Also, what is the harm in adding one more? Yet, the migration to apps like Signal Messenger and Telegram is still in its early stages and most people will continue to utilize what they know and love, ignoring the future impact it may have on their digital lives. WhatsApp is still as popular as ever, even with the looming negotiations and potential lawsuits related to privacy concerns from national and international privacy regulators.
Whether people decide to delete their WhatsApp accounts, opting for alternative privacy-focused variations, install a secondary messaging app, or continue to completely ignore the risk and carry on using the app as their primary form of communication is up to them. There is risk in all three of these choices, no matter how it gets perceived. One thing for sure is that WhatsApp, as big as it is, will continue to grow and improve their services as they introduce new features to the app. Privacy is a concern, but seems to be lower in ranking to something like monetization of user data. Only time will tell how far Facebook Inc. will go with their current user privacy practices.
Our digital and online world has changed drastically since the birth of the internet and will continue to do so, forcing many new laws and legislations into existence to keep up with the ever-changing environment. Companies who hold monopolies over user data will no doubt see stricter controls and repercussions in the future which will be to the benefit of the affected users.