WhatsApp is in the eye of the storm. For weeks we have been talking about nothing but the last one update imposed by the App most used instant messenger in the world that according to some would pose serious risks to user privacy. In reality, the speech is much more complex and takes on different contours based on the place from which we chat. If we're doing it from one of the EU countries, the UK or Switzerland, in general there wouldn't be much to worry about. If, on the other hand, US users or users from other states are at the center of attention, the discussion changes and it is right to ask some doubts. But let's try to reconstruct the outlines of the story.
THE LAST UPDATE OF WHATSAPP
2021 brought with it a new update of WhatsApp, the hugely popular instant messaging app that Facebook bought it in 2014 for 19,3 billion dollars and which today has over 2 billion users. It must be clarified that the updates proposed by WhatsApp are very frequent and often only concern the resolution of some bugs or the improvement of technical characteristics. However, the latest update released worldwide on January 7th has caused quite a stir, also because those who do not accept the new terms of use and the new privacy policy, starting from 8 February, he will no longer be able to use the application.
WHAT THE UPDATE INVOLVES
To find out what the latest update provides, a distinction must be made between the European Union and other states.
Outside the EU it will become mandatory to share some data of users using WhatsApp with Facebook and Instagram. Which? Your phone number, contact list, Status messages and other information. This data will be used for commercial purposes by Facebook and Instagram to target the user and show personalized advertisements on the two social networks. However, it must be taken into consideration that this sharing has already existed for a long time, the only difference is that from February onwards it will become mandatory.
“SPECIAL” RULES FOR THE EU THANKS TO THE GDPR
What has been said up to now does not apply to users of the European Union who, unlike the others, are protected by the GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation in force since 2018. These are very strict and stringent rules that not even a giant how Facebook can hack.
Moving from theory to practice, in the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the new update will have significantly less impact on privacy. The only data that Facebook can access are the user's email address, information about the device on which WhatsApp was activated, the IP address and little else. Unlike what happens in the US or in other parts of the world, this data cannot be used to send personalized advertising.
The update, on the other hand, will affect WhatsApp business more than anything else. Shopkeepers and commercial services will be able to communicate with their customers via the messaging app.
WILL WHATSAPP BE ABLE TO READ OUR MESSAGES?
The answer is no. Neither in the US, nor in the European Union, nor anywhere else in the world, WhatsApp can access our conversations to target us and send us advertisements or to share them with other platforms in the same group. The reason is obvious: the content of the messages and calls we send and receive on WhatsApp is encrypted.
“We want to clarify that the policy update does not in any way affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family – wrote WhatsApp on its site – Instead, this update includes changes related to messaging a company on WhatsApp, which is optional , and provides further transparency on how we collect and use data”.
TELEGRAM AND SIGNAL
The concerns, controversies and misunderstandings surrounding the latest WhatsApp update have led millions of users around the world to decide to migrate to other shores. Among these users is Elon Musk, Tesla's number one, who on Twitter sent his followers to use Signal, another messaging app considered more secure and transparent for four reasons: it is managed by a non-profit organization for profit, it is open source, it keeps little metadata (date and time of sending, the telephone numbers of the sender and the recipient, their location are not kept) and it does not use the cloud for backup.
Over the past few weeks, around 1,3 million users a day have downloaded Signal. Even more numerous was the migration to Telegram, which among other things, makes available "secret chats", which cannot be recovered from its servers and prevents messages from being re-sent. Telegram acquired 25 million users in three days, bringing its total to over 500 million (WhatsApp, as mentioned, exceeded 2 billion).
THE LIGHTHOUSE OF THE GUARANTEE
Despite the clarifications and reassurances, the Italian privacy guarantor has decided to shine a light on the matter, bringing it to the attention of the European privacy authorities. The doubts are not so much about the upcoming changes, but about the formula with which these changes have been presented (and imposed) on users. Indeed, according to the guarantor, the notice on the new conditions of use sent to users would not be clear.
"In particular with regard to data sharing with Facebook", for knowing the authority, the information on the processing of personal data is "unclear and intelligible and must be carefully evaluated in the light of the privacy regulations".
The Guarantor also believes that WhatsApp does not provide all the information necessary to understand the changes made or what the treatment of personal data will be. For this reason, users are not given the opportunity to express informed and informed consent.
“WhatsApp is widely used, even by non-super-digitalised consumers, so the information must be super-clear – said Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Consumer Union – It is good that action is also taken as a matter of urgency, so that it can possibly be remedied sooner of 8 February, thus protecting users”.
The company, for its part, made it known that "We are examining the announcement of the Guarantor relating to the update of the WhatsApp privacy policy".
