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Sharing user data with Facebook? WhatsApp with that?

Facebook-owned WhatsApp is receiving backlash for recent changes to its privacy policy. The topic has started an international conversation about the expectation of privacy and consumer data rights. We summarize the situation and how the fallout is pushing the discussion forward.

The application

WhatsApp is the most popular messaging application, with over 2 billion active monthly users[1]. After Facebook purchased it in February 2014, privacy advocates became rightfully concerned. At the time, WhatsApp assured users it would not allow data sharing between the two companies. However, two short years later, in 2016, WhatsApp modified its terms and conditions to enable data sharing[2]. There was a grace period for users to opt-out of the sharing, but that option has long since expired.

This concerning development was partially offset by WhatsApp’s implementation of end-to-end encryption for messages. End-to-end encryption means that only the intended recipient’s device can decrypt messages from the sender. No third party can read or mine your messages. Conceived in 2014, the feature didn’t receive full integration until 2016. Since then, privacy worries mostly dissipated even though their relationship with Facebook never changed. Until they released a privacy policy update in January 2021…

Breakdown of privacy policy changes

So, what nefarious language did WhatsApp include that triggered a backlash? If anything, it was minor updates to already-existing policies. We believe these policies should have drawn ire long before now, but better late than never. According to the policy, WhatsApp could already share the following information with Facebook[3]:

  • Phone numbers of both users and their contacts
  • Profile names and pictures
  • Metadata, including app logs, status messages (i.e., when a user last logged in), and diagnostics information.

The new policy only expands upon this specifically when communicating with businesses. Facebook now stores user chats with companies. They can also access any data within those chats[4]. Certainly not ideal, but perhaps the reaction wouldn’t be so severe had they not required users to accept the changes by February 2021 or face account deletion. The combination of scary words such as “data collection,” “sharing,” and “Facebook” was exacerbated by an equally-frightening ultimatum. It came across as a power play rather than an update. Needless to say, people were not happy.

Harsh backlash

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is fastCompanyHeadline-1024x374.pngThe backlash to the update was immediate. It became highly-publicized, with sensational headlines clogging up all of the internet’s many tubes.

 

Then, celebrities took to Twitter to promote privacy-based alternatives such as Signal.

 

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is independentHeadline-1024x460.pngThe hysteria around the policy announcement, along with the solicitation of alternatives from people such as Elon Musk, drove people to other encrypted messaging applications in droves. The open-source Signal app received the most significant boost. It is estimated that had at least 40 million new downloads within a week of the WhatsApp update.

Likewise, another private messaging client, Telegram, saw similar gains. In three days, they signed up 25 million new people for their service.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is economicTimesHeadline-1024x374.pngThese substitute solutions are attractive due to their end-to-end encryption capabilities and the fact that Facebook, one of the biggest privacy offenders around, isn’t involved at all. Both companies have more transparent privacy policies and offer compelling products. Time will tell if the poached users migrate back to WhatsApp or if the trend continues.

Signal experiences difficulties

Gaining tens of millions of new users in for a bandwidth-intensive service is going to strain servers. While Telegram already had a massive user base and could withstand a short-term spike in usage, Signal had significant problems.

The Signal Foundation is a nonprofit organization that relies on private funding and donations from users. Interestingly enough, former WhatsApp co-founder, Brian Acton, is on Signal’s Board of Directors and remains one of its biggest funders[7]. Given its more “plucky underdog” status, it makes sense that the enormous increase in traffic caused issues. Within a week of its newfound popularity, the app experienced downtime and lost messages[8].

Consumers tend not to be sympathetic to poor user experiences. For the sake of all privacy apps, we hope that Signal can meet demand and deliver a great experience going forward. If people associate privacy-based alternative applications as “less than,” they’ll migrate back to the services they know.

WhatsApp combats misinformation

Undoubtedly feeling the heat, WhatsApp responded by clarifying the new policy and reassuring that they don’t share most data with Facebook[9]. To informed privacy advocates, this seems more like damage control than anything else. While this update didn’t have a significant amount of new information aside from the Businesses section, it shed light on an ongoing concern about how they share information with Facebook.

A new path forward

The WhatsApp controversy is encouraging. It shows that privacy issues can move the needle, demand mainstream media coverage, and cause tens of millions of people to switch to better solutions. In a time of corporate surveillance, government intrusion, and censorship, it’s nice to see everyday people begin to wake up. We hope this trend continues and the right to privacy becomes a  standard consideration for app developers and service providers.

AXEL believes in the users’ right to privacy and data custody. Our products embody this philosophy. Our blockchain-based, decentralized cloud storage and file-sharing platform, AXEL Go, lets you store or send files confidentially. We don’t sell your information to advertisers or mine your files for data. It offers AES 256-bit encryption to keep your documents away from any would-be spies. Try it out today and receive 2GB of free storage and enough of our AXEL Tokens to fuel thousands of typical shares. The future doesn’t have to be mass surveillance and constant data breaches. We’re providing a different path. Won’t you join us?

 

[1] J. Clement, “Number of monthly active WhatsApp users worldwide from April 2013 to March 2020”, statista, April 30, 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/260819/number-of-monthly-active-whatsapp-users/#:~:text=As%20of%20March%202020%2C%20WhatsApp,billion%20MAU%20in%20February%202016

[2] Natasha Lomas, “WhatsApp’s privacy U-turn on sharing data with Facebook draws more heat in Europe”, TechCrunch, Sept. 30, 2016, https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/30/whatsapps-privacy-u-turn-on-sharing-data-with-facebook-draws-more-heat-in-europe/

[3] “WhatsApp Privacy Policy”, WhatsApp.com, July 20, 2020, https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/privacy-policy?eea=0

[4] Andrew Griffin, “WHATSAPP NEW PRIVACY TERMS: WHAT DO NEW RULES REALLY MEAN FOR YOU?”, Independent, Jan. 9, 2021, https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/whatsapp-new-privacy-terms-facebook-rules-explained-b1784469.html

[5] Saheli Roy Choudhury, “Indian ministry reportedly asked WhatsApp to drop privacy policy changes that sparked backlash”, CNBC, Jan. 19, 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/india-has-reportedly-asked-whatsapp-to-withdraw-privacy-policy-update.html

[6] Tugce Ozsoy, Firat Kozok, “WhatsApp Dropped by Erdogan After Facebook Privacy Changes”,

[7] Andy Greenberg, “WhatsApp Co-Founder Puts $50M Into Signal To Supercharge Encrypted Messaging”, Wired, Feb. 2, 2018, https://www.wired.com/story/signal-foundation-whatsapp-brian-acton/

[8] Katie Canales, “Signal appears to be down for some users after the messaging app saw a record spike in downloads”,  Business Insider, Jan. 15, 2021, https://www.businessinsider.com/signal-app-down-users-report-messages-sending-problems-outage-2021-1

[9] “Answering your questions about WhatsApp’s Privacy Policy”, WhatsApp, Jan. 2021, https://faq.whatsapp.com/general/security-and-privacy/answering-your-questions-about-whatsapps-privacy-policy

Centralization kills the internet star

CCN, also known as CCN Markets, one of the world’s largest purveyors of blockchain and crypto related news closed their doors today.
What killed them though wasn’t a hack, it wasn’t a scandal, it wasn’t even, and pardon the pun, newsworthy. It was a little algorithm update. Or so they say. One little algorithm shot their viewership down by 50% in the blink of an eye. It probably took longer to read this sentence than it did to kill one of the most respected names in blockchain and crypto journalism.
Either way, the canary is dead and it’s time to get out of the coal mine.
That’s what centralization can do, it’s not just your information they can look at, it’s the information they can keep you from seeing. Did CCN do something to get themselves axed? An article some CEO didn’t like? Are the tech giants planning to launch their own tokens and they don’t want criticism?

Or sadly, and almost more sinister, could it just be unintentional? Is it right for some tech conglomerate to have the power to kill a business, much less a news agency, with the unintentional flip of a switch? To make almost 60 people jobless, without even knowing?
No.
That’s the price of centralization, and it’s too high a price to pay.
No one organization should have the ability to control what you can and can’t see online.
No one organization should be able to delete your online presence because they didn’t like what you said.
So, let’s get out of this mine, and start thinking about the internet of tomorrow, one that’s decentralized and truly free.

Too Many Cloud Companies…Too Few Good Ones

So. . .just how many cloud companies are there?

Since the advent of the smartphone (thanks Apple) cloud companies are popping up on every virtual corner, much like Starbucks did early on.

In my quest to see just how many cloud companies there are, I figured I’d start with a simple Google search.  Right?  I mean Google is the best for this type of thing!

So, I proceeded to type “cloud companies” in a google search bar. 133,000,000 results in just 0.47 seconds.  Yep…I’m that guy.  I broke Google  (sorry Google!).

Ok, so that didn’t really work.

So I moved on to the Google Play store and navigated to apps.  There, I typed in “cloud” and immediately got over 200 apps flooding my screen.  I’m not entirely sure how many apps over 200 because I simply stopped counting.

Ok. . .clearly this approach isn’t working.  So how do we determine just how many cloud companies there are? And moreover, does anyone really care?

Definitely more than 3

At this point, I’ve decided to take the “Owl and the Tootsie Pop” approach (if you’re my age, you’ve seen that commercial) and just saying who cares?

Because in the end, we don’t really care about the number of companies, what we care about is what they can do for us!

As consumers, we all have our “lists” of things we seek in pretty much every aspect of our digital shopping.  My cloud list is relatively short and focuses on (1) ease of use (2) availability of my stuff (3) keeping my stuff safe and (4) being able to share and stream my stuff.

While most of these things seem relatively simple, this is where the list of cloud companies starts to get smaller.  Let’s take a brief look at these four aspects.

The cloud SHOULD be easy…so why isn’t it?

Ease of use is a key for all of us.

How many times have you gone to your app store and downloaded an app that seemed to suit your needs, only to find that you simply have neither the time nor the energy to figure out exactly how to use it?

Or, how many times have you wanted to share some photos with your grandmother and you wind up being her tech-support guru because she’s literally lost as to how to access the files you shared.

You’re not alone.  This happens to all of us.

I’m pretty much a classic tech-nerd (sans the tape on my glasses) and even I get frustrated with some of the choices out there.

Where is that file again?

And what about the availability of our files and images?

This one gets a bit tricky too because it isn’t always as simple as creating a cloud account or installing an app.

Does your app require you to upload all of your files to a single point of storage in the cloud?  Do you need to put everything on an external NAS device connected to your router at home?

Availability is mandatory for all of us, yet, achieving it can sometimes be laborious.

I mean sure, at first you tell yourself “it’ll be great to put all my files in one place, so I may as well just break down and do it”.  But soon you’re back to your old ways and you’ve got files all over the place, spread across every device you own.

Once again, you’re not alone.  I’m notoriously bad at organizing my digital life.

I have some “special” pictures…if you catch my drift

So what about keeping our stuff safe?

I’m not a snapchat or Facebook sort of guy (cause I’m in the witness protection program) but If I was, I’d want to know that I can maintain ownership and control over my images.

Let’s say you’re out taking pictures and you capture some amazing photo of a sunrise or stars reflecting off a lake.  All your friends and followers are suddenly enamored with your photographic prowess and you suddenly become a bit concerned about your ownership of your content.

Again, you’re not alone.

That’s why you see companies watermark their images all the time.  So protection of our digital content is an important aspect of our personal cloud.

If sharing is caring, then I’m a very caring person

And finally, what about the ability to share and stream?

These are hallmarks of social media.  Without the ability to share your files, the very aspect of social goes right out the window.

The ability to get those pictures to grandma safely and simply is just as important as sharing your favorite song with your best friend.

And let’s not forget the frustration of being the tech-support guru for the friends and family you share with.

Quality over quantity

Ok. . .so what’s the point of all this?

It’s simple really.  We’ll never ever know how many cloud companies are out there because as soon as we count them all, more will pop up.

But what we do know is what we need.

Make your own list of priorities for your digital lives as I did above.  Pick and choose the aspects that are important to you and you’ll find that you can quickly eliminate a great deal of companies with just a few simple searches.

And don’t forget to read the user comments in the app stores.  These folks are just like you and me.  They’re seeking something that can help them solve a need, so there’s a good chance that they’ll share something you’re also interested in.

And above all, stay safe.

Make sure you take a little time to vet the companies you choose to share your precious digital lives with.  This is your stuff, not theirs.  Make certain you get to maintain your rights to it!