Just Say "NO" to WhatsApp and Give These Other Apps a Try Instead!

So maybe you've heard, or maybe you haven't, but the overlords of the popular messaging app WhatsApp have changed their privacy policy. Normally we don't pay attention when companies do this, but this change is getting some negative attention! After February 8, 2021, WhatsApp will be able to share anything and everything with Facebook! If you do not accept the new privacy policy by then, your account will be deleted, but your data will not be.

Why You Should Get Rid of WhatsApp

Facebook purchased WhatsApp for $19 billion back in February 2014. I wasn't as privacy-focused then as I am now, but news of this acquisition prompted me to immediately remove WhatsApp from my device. Since then, Facebook has received negative attention for the number of permissions the phone app asks for, censoring people and groups on their platform, being bad for your mental health, and many other transgressions.

So what about this new privacy policy is so bad? Well, for starters, WhatsApp will now be able to share data with Facebook and Instagram about you regardless of whether or not you have an account. This information can include seemingly random things like your phone battery, web browser information, connection information, interaction information, and device identifiers. These identifiers could be used to identify who you are which is a huge privacy risk.

So why are they doing this? Facebook wants even more data on you. Data is a valuable resource to so many companies. With more data, they can better target you with ads. If they can do a better job of showing people ads they are likely to click, then they should get more companies interested in advertising on their platform. They could potentially charge more for ads as well. It's all about the Benjamins! To be clear, they still cannot read your messages, but they do store unsent messages for up to 30 days.

What Other Messaging Apps Should I Consider?

Session

To cut to the chase, I've recently discovered Session and that's what I am trying out with my family. It is built on some state of the art tech and has unparalleled privacy and security.

Pros

• end-to-end encryption
• decentralized network by on Loki blockchain
• onion routing
• has groups chats
• messages only stored on the device for a preset duration
• available on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, & Linux

Cons

• newer so it is a little rougher around the edges
• less popular than some meaning you will likely have to convince other people to install it rather than finding family and friends on it already

Signal

Signal has been exploding in popularity lately, mostly due to the shutdown of Parler and the change in WhatsApp's privacy policy. While I wouldn't recommend it as the best option for privacy, I would recommend it to those looking for something with a large user base that also offers some privacy.

Pros

• end-to-end encryption
• very large user base means you'll likely already have family and friends using it
• very simple to get started with
• can do encrypted voice and video calls
• can be used as an SMS application (note that this is for convenience only as Signal will not make your regular text messages any more secure)
• available on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, & Linux

Cons

• centralized service makes it more susceptible to legislation requiring backdoor access
• your account is associated with your phone number
• owned by a single entity. This means the service, privacy policy, and ownership can be subject to sudden changes later on.

Telegram

My advice is to stay away from Telegram. Some will argue that Telegram is the closest to WhatsApp in terms of features, but it is potentially LESS secure.

Pros

• very large user base means you'll likely already have family and friends using it
• very simple to get started with
• can do end-to-end encryption if you do a "secret chat"
• most feature-rich
• available on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, & Linux

Cons

• end-to-end encryption is not enabled on regular chats (you have to do a "secret chat" to have encryption)
• your messages are stored on a server and Telegram DOES have access to them

"secret chat" is the only way to get encryption but cannot be used for group chats

Element

Element would be my second pick on this list. It has a ton of modern privacy-focused features coupled with an attractive functional feature set.

Pros

• decentralized network (part of the Matrix ecosystem)
• end-to-end encryption
• can do encrypted voice and video calls
• cross-signed verification
• no data mining
• available on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, & Linux
• can be downloaded from F-Droid on Android

Cons

• not that popular yet so not as many users
• I can't find whether or not they archive your data on the free plan, but they do on their paid plans as data exports are a feature they list

Lastly, here are some honorable mentions. I've found mentions of these apps for being great for privacy and seen that they have some pretty solid privacy-focused features. I just haven't gone too deep with these yet so I can't speak too much about them. I might take the time to dive deeper into these later and write an article about them if I find them to be better than the others mentioned in any way.

• Status.im - a P2P messaging client, crypto wallet, and Web3 browser. I'm probably about to give this one a whirl!
• Briar - An open-source, secure messenger with the best privacy policy I've ever seen!
• Jami - a P2P, encrypted messenger that does voice and video calls and never stores any of your messages on a server.

There Are So Many Good Messengers Out There!

Hopefully, you are now armed with enough info to make the best decision for you as far as which messenger you should use. I HIGHLY recommend you remove WhatsApp and delete your account (and would have even before the terrible privacy policy changes were made). I also suggest you give consideration to the apps listed above. If you decide to try out another messenger, get some of your family and friends to try it with you so you actually have other people to message through it. If they want to know why you are switching, send them a link to this article!