World’s leading chat messenger WhatsApp partially admitted on the media reports that it is keeping track of the messages and also collects data of users, even after end-to-end encryption.
WhatsApp the popular instant messaging service with over 200 million active users in India might not be as secure as being claimed. Questions were also being raised over certain provisions of the user agreement wherein most of its wrongdoings would go un-remedied and unchallenged.
A representative of a WhatsApp said to the media, “That we collect very little data and every message is end-to-end encrypted. Contrary to recent comments in the media, we are not keeping track of the friends and family you have messaged.
The privacy and security of our users are incredibly important to WhatsApp. The invite links were an optional feature available to group administrators but it must be used only with trusted individuals.
Whenever a new member joins a group all members receive a notification that includes whether the person was added via group link or by an administrator directly. Group members can always see everyone in the group including their phone number and their name. We make it easy to leave a group or block unwanted messages with one tap, the spokesperson said.
The popular messaging platform, which was acquired by Facebook in 2014, has one billion users globally and is one of the most popular mediums of instant messaging.
In the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scam, WhatsApp has come under attack from critics.
According to the media reports, WhatsApp has admitted that it is sharing information about identity and device information with Facebook, allowing it to do the dirty work in snooping on users.
The group chat feature of WhatsApp puts users at greater threat than their postings on Facebook because of the availability of mobile phone numbers.
Almost one-quarter or more of the world’s population is using WhatsApp for free, Whatsapp makes money by harvesting user data and using it in conjunction with others including Facebook.
There is an old saying, There is no free lunch. Yet, there is a new brave digital world that is free to use, and the costs and profit of providing the free services must come from mining the habits and data connected to each User.