Do we really have to switch to a private messaging platform?
In the future, the answer will definitely be yes.
Recently, WhatsApp changed its privacy policies which created a massive social media controversy against the app itself for peeking into users’ private information. Interestingly, WhatsApp came up with posters and articles to state that WhatsApp is private and protects the privacy of every single user.
It’s a known fact that there is a raising concern amongst a vast majority of users regarding privacy while using “Facebook products”. In fact, governments from different countries and even the European Union have questioned Mark Zuckerberg to ensure the privacy of users is maintained. WhatsApp is without a doubt one of the most famous messaging applications, but people don’t trust the app in terms of privacy and users are moving.
Use Signal
Use Signal
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2021
On January 7th, when WhatsApp privacy concerns was going on, Elon Musk (founder of Tesla and SpaceX) came up with a tweet that drove millions of users to the app Signal. Well, Signal and Telegram are the alternatives to WhatsApp apart from iMessage which is only available in iOS devices.
Signal provides a very strong and secure chat system that encrypts everything including the media files. Edward Snowden once tweeted that the signal app is so secure that even himself uses it for communication everyday (and he’s alive).
Privacy Practicality
Migrating from one app to another isn’t a big deal, but migration from one messenger platform to another is definitely a big deal. It doesn’t matter how secure Signal or Telegram is, WhatsApp will still grab most of the world’s messenger users just because of the fact that most the connections are available only on WhatsApp.
Users stick on to a messenger platform not just because of the feature, but also because of their peers being available in it. Almost one-third of the world’s population is actively using WhatsApp according to the report from 2019. Simple privacy concern is not enough to move the masses from WhatsApp to another messenger platform.
Even if that change is entertained, it takes either years or a massive movement to make such a change that’s unbelievable from the world’s one of the most powerful companies, Facebook. In fact, the only option is to use WhatsApp to stay connected with your peers even though you’re concerned about privacy.
So what are you waiting for? Time or Movement! Also, the question is not whether we need to switch to a secure messaging platform, it’s whether we “can” do that.
