There is no doubt that WhatsApp, with its more than 2 billion active users, is one of the most popular platforms worldwide, but did you know that there are other options?
Increasingly, we realize that Internet services, even if they appear to be free, are never free. WhatsApp, belonging to Facebook, has updated the privacy policy you need to accept in order to make use of the app, and the amount of personal information to be collected is impressive.
Facebook will save all location information, I.P., messages, photos, searches, contacts, etc. The list is endless, besides that if you have Facebook, a good amount of other data is added to the list, which are used, in theory, “to improve the service”.
In fact, according to an in-app ad, WhatsApp will no longer be as secure and will start collecting information to share with Facebook ad companies.
The truth is that the more information you provide to your social networks, Facebook can generate analyses as complex as predicting whether given a certain type of behavior a woman is pregnant, so it might be time to look for other alternatives.
If you don’t want to use Facebook Messenger or Whatsapp as instant messaging apps, the following two platforms are great options.
Telegram
Telegram states that it does not sell your data for advertising purposes, and that it only stores it to improve its service; however, they point out that this data doesn’t necessarily have to be real, just a basis for other users to communicate with you.
Despite this, your messages are stored in the cloud and can be read, but if you choose to take your conversation in a private way, the messages will only be stored on the two participating phones.
Telegram is a good choice if you want to maintain your privacy.
Signal
The app was popular when Edward Snowden claimed that this app was the one he used for instant messaging.
It does not require any data from the user, besides that its security is open source, so it can be reviewed at any time.
Signal was created by Open Whisper Systems, a non-profit organization, so this app does not have a business model in which they sell your information to third parties.
However, if no option convinced you and you prefer to continue using WhatsApp, then it would be pertinent if you took a look at whether Facebook will soon start charging for its service.
