Last few days saw a lot of conversations about the update in policy of WhatsApp - with a large number of it’s users getting a notification pop up about the same.I got it too :
For many like me, this was the drop of hat we have been waiting for to jump off the platform, for others, the penny has yet to drop. For many, penny or her hat, it doesn’t really matter at all.
Having said that, within a day or so, this whole thing raked up a Mexican wave on social media and surfing it were parallel apps like Telegram and Signal.
Both the platforms whilst been around for a while, enjoyed downloads and user-additions like never before.
The policy update which you can not escape unless you are in the EU or about to leave it even, is just a transparent attempt to take permission for something which is being done already. In bullet points, here’s what it is all about :
Letting us know that there’s sharing of data with Facebook companies
Telling us that there’s information “collected by us”, “provided by you”, “third-party information”
Describing (mildly) the potential use of this Information : “We use all the information we have to help us operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services”
This led to the typical Chinese whispers on social media and so-on, amplified by Elon Musk saying go for Signal. Similar views were expressed by Anand Mahindra, Vijay Shekhar Sharma and such folks in India who have a decent following on Twitter that led to a great-migration of sorts.
Whatsapp has gone ahead and clarified that privacy is not compromised and the policy is only of relevance for specific contexts like business interaction, support conversations and so on.
We can’t see your private messages or hear your calls, and neither can Facebook: Neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can read your messages or hear your calls with your friends, family, and co-workers on WhatsApp. Whatever you share, it stays between you. That’s because your personal messages are protected by end-to-end encryption. We will never weaken this security and we clearly label each chat so you know our commitment. Learn more about WhatsApp security here.
Meanwhile, some of you might have also experienced or gotten to know about group chats bubbling up in search-engine result sets.
Now this is really nothing to get all wrinkled on the face about. It’s a simple case of harnessing what can be harnessed from a large user base who are free-loading on a platform.As the they have been saying for a while now - you are the product, especially if you are not paying.
I took minutes to ditch the app but my reasons are not solely regarding privacy and the ethical fibre driving a company. I want a straighter neck, not-so-crooked fingers and eye-contact when I’m around people. And believe me, in the past I deleted my FB and IG accounts and that worked a great deal well on my spinal nerves and learning from that, I have been seeking an opportune moment to give me excuse to my residual social network for bowing out of the last place for virtual conversations.
This gap between deleting my WhatsApp account and old groups swarming back on other platforms like Signal and Telegram, would be a good enough time-lapse for me to retrain my brain for better habits and de-addiction. Speaking of which, did you know that there are actually hundreds of people that need and seek support for WhatsApp rehab.
Not to mention the huge mis-information challenge that plagues almost every platform out there. Maybe the break will distract people from looking at every ounce of information flowing in and check their own reactions ?
And then, what about the oldies ? Our parents and aunts and uncles for whom WhatsApp, after a steep long learning curve, has become the watering hole of information, engagement and entertainment. It’s analogous to the quintessential Narghile that I used to see in my village which would pull people around itself with an invisible force and induce them to have conversations about all and sundry and expend the hours between noon and dusk.Will they leave the vortex ?
Like many others, I don’t think they would too.
Welcome to 2021.
Google has been using our data. Contextual advertising is all about data from one place used to show similar ads to what we were searching on say an amazon / jiomart et al. We haven't stopped using Google. TINA, there kya ? I am guessing it's more of a tired of using same platform syndrome amplified by the Vijay Shekhar and Elon Musk tweets. Orkut had its shelf life, so will facebook and whatsapp.
BTW, on a side note wrt Vijay Shekhar's tweet what's the guarantee that tomorrow if paytm kills competition and then starts charging merchants (to start with) and us (for adding money from Debit/credit cards) - something which it has tried and rolled back (I guess)