Company explains what is supposed to happen on February 8

Jan 13, 2021 16:42 GMT  ·  By

The WhatsApp exodus is real, with millions of users making the switch to alternatives like Telegram and Signal due to the company admitting it’d start sharing data with Facebook in early February.

Most users were concerned their conversations would be accessed by Facebook and other companies, and in a detailed article published today, WhatsApp explains what exactly is supposed to happen next month.

More specifically, WhatsApp says end users are not affected by the new privacy policy, as the changes only concern the interactions with businesses. In other words, data would be collected only when you reach out to a business, so the conversations between end users are not in any way affected.

“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,” WhatsApp explains.

Huge spike for Signal and Telegram

Furthermore, the company explains contacts and your location are not exposed in any way, so neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can access them.

“We don’t keep logs of who everyone is messaging or calling: While traditionally mobile carriers and operators store this information, we believe that keeping these records for two billion users would be both a privacy and security risk and we don’t do it,” the company says.

Many users, however, have had enough and already made the switch to alternative platforms. Telegram says it recorded no less than 25 million new users in just three days, with Signal also confirming a huge spike in the number of new account activations last week.