WhatsApp recently revealed it shares user data with Facebook

Jan 11, 2021 18:45 GMT  ·  By
WhatsApp says its new privacy policy would come into effect in early February
   WhatsApp says its new privacy policy would come into effect in early February

The updated privacy policy WhatsApp revealed earlier this year has caused quite a lot of criticism, with users migrating en-masse to alternatives like Telegram in an attempt to avoid getting their data in the hands of Facebook and other third parties.

WhatsApp sharing user data with other companies obviously doesn’t sit well with governments across the world either, and one of the first to react is none other than Turkey.

The country’s antitrust watchdog has revealed that it plans an investigation on WhatsApp’s privacy policy, explaining that the update leads to “more data being collected, processed, and used by Facebook.”

According to a report by Bloomberg, the investigation would be aimed at both Facebook and WhatsApp, but neither of the two commented on this probe so far.

En-masse switch to alternatives

WhatsApp’s privacy policy update has caused an en-masse migration to alternative products, including Signal, which confirmed on Twitter that its servers had a hard time dealing with the number of new accounts, as verification codes were sent with a delay.

“Verification codes are currently delayed across several providers because so many new people are trying to join Signal right now (we can barely register our excitement). We are working with carriers to resolve this as quickly as possible. Hang in there,” the company said on January 7.

“Even though we're still breaking records, verification codes are back in the groove. Delivery delays have been eliminated across multiple cellular providers, so things should be more ASAP when you join the app. We continue to shatter traffic records and add capacity as more and more people come to terms with how much they dislike Facebook's new terms. If you weren't able to create a new group recently, please try again. New servers are ready to serve you.”

WhatsApp hasn’t commented on Turkey’s investigation so far.