Signal downloads soar due to the new WhatsApp policy!

This beginning of the year is proving very busy for WhatsApp. Its users are beginning to migrate to other instant messaging platforms such as Telegram but, above all, Signal due to its changes to its privacy policy.

Users of the instant messaging application per excellence, WhatsApp, are receiving a notice on their devices indicating that, to continue using the service, it is necessary to accept the new privacy policy before February 8. New conditions that have raised doubts among users because, among other issues, they are focused on allowing Facebook to share and use WhatsApp data.

In the case of the European Union countries, the application of the GDPR, approved in May 2018, prevents Facebook from sharing the data collected by WhatsApp for your interest; but you will have to give consent to the new regulations to continue using the application.

The truth is that, as a result of this change, the secure messaging application Signal has risen to the top of the downloads on the Apple Store and Google Play platforms in several countries. Many WhatsApp users have expressed on social media their intention to turn to their competitor Signal, as has the iconic Tesla boss, Elon Musk.

A very brief and clear tweet from Musk, "Use Signal" opened the ban last week and, from then on, the free application is at the top of the downloads in India, Germany, France and even Hong Kong, as Signal itself has announced on Twitter.

Musk: "Use Signal"

To win over its new users, Signal has even published a tutorial to help them easily import their groups from the other messaging app.

The influx of new connections caused some technical problems between Thursday and Friday. "The verification codes are currently delayed ... because a lot of new people are trying to join Signal," the company explained.

Launched in 2014, Signal is considered by specialists as one of the most secure messaging applications on the market thanks, in particular, to its ability to encrypt end-to-end messages or audio and video calls. Its security protocol also does not save metadata of who messages are sent to, nor are there any unencrypted cloud backups as WhatsApp does in both cases. In addition, it is open source, unlike WhatsApp, so possible vulnerabilities can be discovered much faster.

Signal was founded in 2013, and since 2017 it has the support of Brian Acton, one of the co-founders of WhatsApp, who has contributed 50 million dollars for the development of the app after the fierce battle he had with Facebook for the security of WhatsApp.

In February last 2020, the European Commission even recommended it to its teams, in particular to ensure exchanges with people outside the organization. In fact, WhatsApp is not secure and not only because of its privacy policy, but because, through its multiple vulnerabilities, it has been possible to hack hundreds of important personalities in the world, including politicians, diplomats, or Jeff Bezos himself. Therefore, now the European Commission has prohibited its use.

Not in Europe

WhatsApp has come under the crossfire since last Thursday, when it asked its nearly two billion users to agree to the new terms of service, thanks to which it shares more data with its parent company Facebook. Users who reject the new terms will no longer be able to access their account as of February 8.

The group seeks to monetize its platform by allowing advertisers to contact their customers through WhatsApp, or even sell their products directly there, as is already the case in India.

According to the company, the data that can be shared between WhatsApp and the Facebook application ecosystem (including Instagram and Messenger) includes contacts and profile information, with the exception of the message content that remains encrypted.

But the new conditions are not the same in the European Union and in the rest of the world. In the case of the EU and England, the data will be used to expand the functionality offered to WhatsApp Business accounts, the company told AFP agency. What does that mean exactly?

Users from member countries of the European Union use the WhatsApp Ireland Limited app and not that of WhatsApp LLC. As they are separate companies, each one is governed by the regulations of that region. The terms of use of WhatsApp in the European Union state the following: “Currently, Facebook does not use the information in your WhatsApp account to improve your experiences with Facebook products or to provide you with more relevant advertisements on the platform. This is the result of discussions with the Irish Data Protection Commission and other European data protection authorities” the company says.

Facebook has been for months, like the rest of ‘Gafam’ (Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft), in the crosshairs of European and US authorities, who accuse these new millennium conglomerates of practices considered anti-competitive.

Despite everything, whoever does not trust, as it may happen that the new terms and conditions of WhatsApp will also change in Europe in the future, also has the option of migrating to another messaging platform such as Telegram. Currently, this application has around 400,000,000 users.

Telegram messaging has options that allow you to choose whether to store messages in the cloud, or have secret conversations that will only be kept on the mobile device.

The cloud storage of this application is constantly synchronized. In this way, the messages will be available from multiple devices, another of the advantages of this platform. Telegram has special secret chats with end-to-end encryption, which do not leave traces on the servers, allow the self-destruction of messages and do not have the option of forwarding. These types of messages are not part of the cloud.