WhatsApp has published additional information on the changes of the policy, underlining the data shared with Facebook does not include anything from personal chats or groups, and only relates to chats with businesses, and that the app still has end-to-end encryption:

However, many people are still turning to Signal and Telegram, searching to replace WhatsApp as their chat app

Signal is a cross-platform encrypted messaging service that has recently seen an enormous increase in use and downloads so that the company had to add new servers to accommodate the growing number of users. Reportedly, the week between January 6th and January 10th seems to hold the record of weekly or even monthly installs in Signal’s history. The app offers chat features such as groups, message reactions, and even video calls.

Here you can see a comparison done by Forbes using Apple’s App Privacy labels. It might give you a picture of the alleged data that these apps collect about you:

Get Signal Private Messenger from the App Store | Google Play

So, Stay tuned with us for more updates and leaks about the IT industries. Thank you!

About three years ago, WhatsApp introduced this option with the promise that it will “help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support and market it services and offerings,” but users could opt out from this trial.

Unfortunately, this has become mandatory this year, so those who don’t comply won’t be able to use WhatsApp starting February 8. Well, it looks like Facebook’s decision had drastic repercussions for its customer database.

Telegram, a similar messenger service with a lot less users, has just announced a surge in the number of active users immediately after Facebook’s announcement. First, the founder of the company, Pavel Durov, pointed out that Telegram surpassed 500 million monthly in the first week of January 2021..

More importantly, soon after WhatsApp announced the new changes, Telegram reported a massive surge in number of users. No less than 25 million users joined Telegram in the last 72 hours, Durov said in a post. According to him, most of them are coming from Asia (38%), Europe (27%), and Latin America (21%).

Apparently, this is an important increase compared to last year, when “just” 1.5 million users signed up every day. Durov went on to say that while Telegram had surges of downloads before, “this time is different.”

So, Stay tuned with us for more updates and leaks about the IT industries. Thank you!