Privacy is a key feature in the world of social media and is a popular selling point for the messaging app WhatsApp. Although, the company co-founder Jan Koum promised to keep user data protected after Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014. Previously, WhatsApp co-founder, Brian Acton left the company to start his own non-profit foundation. And now Jan Koum has also left the Facebook amid data privacy issues, this may be time to ditch WhatsApp before that promise leaves with him.
Jan Koum has been recently growing a lot of concern on Facebook’s focus on collecting and selling user data. The WhatsApp co-founder attempted to push back where possible, but felt that Facebook’s board of directors “paid lip service to privacy and security concerns he raised.”
WhatsApp employees are quite worried since the co-founder has left the company. The employees think that Facebook may change the app to track even more data and, someday, might even drop advertising into the app.
Although WhatsApp claims that Facebook is still committed to the privacy and security of the app’s 1.5 billion monthly users and that the app’s useful end-to-end encryption setup keeps the privacy of users intact.
Mark Zuckerberg’s recently said on the F8 keynote speech that Jan Koum was a “tireless advocate for privacy and encryption” and thanked him for helping turn Facebook into the “largest fully encrypted communication network in the world.”
However, Facebook already harvests some data from WhatsApp. And with Koum leaving the company, as Mark said there is no one to argue with him about privacy and it’s possible that this harvesting of data could increase since such a move wouldn’t be out of character for the social network. We know that Facebook’s entire business model hinges on targeted advertising around personal data.
If you care enough about your privacy to delete Facebook or even change the way you use the social network, think ditching WhatsApp as well.
If you need a new, more secure messaging app try Signal messaging application.
Can you delete WhatsApp from your phone? Let us know in the comments below.
