In recent years, European data authorities have taken increasingly aggressive action against Big Tech. Among other things, plans to enable users' Facebook Pay accounts so they can "pay for things on WhatsApp" were not included in the European update.ĭata protection laws in Europe are among the strongest in the world. The changes for European users omit details announced for other regions. The changes will not be applied the same globally, however. I think that that's actually what it is about the controversy right now." "As we all know, user data is the gold of our time. This "is probably the first step to monetize and get a return from the incredible investment they did in 2014 when Facebook bought WhatsApp," said Threema's Flepp. The new rules clarify that communications with these businesses may be hosted on Facebook's servers. The updates primarily concern businesses that host shops on Facebook and communicate with users through WhatsApp. The changes are necessary to allow users to message businesses through WhatsApp, the company said in a statement. 'Data is the gold of our time'ĭespite the three-month delay, the intended update is to remain the same. The negative reaction prompted WhatsApp to issue a clarification and delay the changes until May. ![]() Facebook has had near-constant bad press for its shoddy data privacy practices. The update was unclear for many, and a reference to Facebook had users fearing that the contents of their messages would be shared with the social media giant. A closer look revealed that all accounts that did not consent to the new terms by the February 8 deadline would be suspended or deleted.Ĭonfusion followed. In early January, WhatsApp users received a pop-up message announcing updates to the app's privacy policy. "Since people are aware of the concentration of the market, and the fact that there are fewer and fewer companies which are actually having more and more control over the information online, the situation with the sharing of the data between services is creating some doubt for the users," he said. WhatsApp's announcement to its users was "extremely short" and "trivial," he said. "I'm not surprised that the people don't really know what they should additionally consent to compared to the things that they were consenting before," European Data Protection Supervisor Wojciech Wiewiorowski told DW. It prompted WhatsApp to issue a clarification, later going as far as to announce they would delay the updates until May 15. Meanwhile, downloads of WhatsApp dropped to 10.6 million, down from 12.7 million the week before. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video User confusion abounds So we are now talking about hundreds of thousand new users each day. ![]() "Last week we recorded 10 times more daily downloads than on a regular day. "The downloads are going through the roof," Threema's head of Marketing & Sales, Roman Flepp, told DW. ![]() Many also flocked to the lesser known Threema, a paid messenger app that caters largely to German-speaking countries, where sensitivity to data protection is high. Fellow messenger app Telegram saw 15.7 million downloads during the same period, over twice the 7.6 million downloads it saw the week before. The reaction highlights a growing concern - and lack of clarity - among users around data privacy.Īccording to the mobile app analytics firm Sensor Tower, WhatsApp competitor Signal saw 17.8 million downloads between January 5 and January 12, up from just 285,000 the previous week. Millions of digital messenger app users seem to have scrambled for alternative services in the last week, after Facebook-owned WhatsApp announced changes to its privacy policy.
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