WhatsApp has over 400 million users in a country like India, where its effect has lead to lynching and nationwide spread of fake news.
But nobody can deny that the Facebook-owned messaging platform and its reach has become so influential, that political parties are aware of its impact, helping them connect with people even in remote regions.
When it launched more than 10 years back, WhatsApp was lauded for its privacy-centric focus and offering its services for free. Little did we know that the ‘free’ part would come back haunt us, especially when Facebook knocked on its doorstep with an offer that WhatsApp and its founders couldn’t refuse.
Fast-forward to 2019, the messaging platform has more of a Facebook flavour about it then its original build, and this has forced users to think if it’s time to look at alternatives.
Telegram is the first name which comes to mind and for all the right reasons as well. In comparison to WhatsApp, the platform has offered end-to-end encryption support since 2013. Also, unlike Facebook’s hunger for users data and making money, Telegram relies on user donations, thereby not looking to collect or track user activities and messages.
By 2020, WhatsApp is expected to carry a host of Facebook-linked features, including Status Ads, that will integrate with a user’s Facebook account. And you know when a social networking platform riddled with data mishaps tries to connect with another popular chat app, mistakes can happen.
What also hasn’t helped ease our concerns about this development is Mark Zuckerberg confirming his plans to bring Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram closer than ever. Not only do you have to worry about just your data leaking out in public (and Facebook sheepishly doing its ‘Sorry’ act yet again) but also of your friends.
So, what does Telegram bring to the table that WhatsApp isn’t offering already? Well, how about the power to add over 2 lakh people in a single group?
Yes, you read that right – 2 lakh in a group on Telegram. Whereas, WhatsApp has limited this feature on its groups to 250 and also introduced a five chat-forward limit for users, because the Indian government asked for it (well, sort of).
Also, unlike WhatsApp, where anybody with your mobile number can connect with you, Telegram is only going to connect you with people, added to your contact list.
You can chat secretly with select people, which will be enabled once the other person accepts the request. This chat has a time limit and Telegram claims the conversation is untraceable and cannot be forwarded.
You won’t be able to send them messages privately (go away, stalkers) and you can’t even access information of every person who is part of the same group as you.
Repeated Facebook outages have turned into a boon for Telegram this year, when the platform added over 3 million users in a day, just because nothing else was working on 13 March.
Pavel Durov, the Russian founder of Telegram, said that every time WhatsApp has to fix a critical vulnerability in its app, a new one seems to appear in its place. He also pointed out that unlike Telegram, WhatsApp is not open source, so there's no way for a security researcher to easily check whether there are back doors in its code.
WhatsApp did have its priority in place when Jan Koum and Brian Acton were still at the helm, but once they left from their roles as co-founders of WhatsApp, Zuckerberg and Co. have been tinkering with WhatsApp and could possibly ruin it once and for all. And by making this statement to Forbes recently, Acton confirmed those fears.
At the end of the day, I sold my company. I sold my users’ privacy. I made a choice and a compromise. I live with that every day.”Brian Acton, co-founder, WhatsApp
So, if you’re worried about the safety of data residing with Facebook or any of its co-owned products, especially WhatsApp, it’s time to start looking at alternatives.
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