Privacy is an issue that has been ignored as the technological revolution came along and the lack of it gave rise to many new business models, apps and corporations.
However, now that the effects of privacy are becoming visible and understood, it has raised a lot of questions about the practices of many companies as well as impacted new legislations such as GDPR.
Recent events of WhatsApp announcing that they will begin sharing data with Facebook, while did come as a shock to many, yet to the people familiar with the field, it was long overdue. After Facebook had purchased WhatsApp, the monetization was in line, and given facebook’s previous record of privacy infringements, it was waiting and see for many before facebook tapped into the vast potential of WhatsApp data.
And so it did. After the companies, the most high-profile mergers of Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp onto a single platform, the disclosure of data sharing was only a matter of time. Now that it has been officially acknowledged, it leads many to wonder, what alternative apps are there to WhatsApp for privacy-conscious users.
We have compiled a list of pros and cons from some known Whatsapp alternative apps to some unknown alternatives and leave it to users to decide which to choose, if they may want to make a switch soon.
Signal:
Pros:
One of the most high-profile secure chat apps, it has endorsements from the likes of Elon Musk.
It has secure end-to-end encryption along with its code being updated by an open-source community that keeps updating possible flaws and fluctuations.
Cons:
Whilst it is being favored by many, it is being funded by ex-WhatsApp founders with public disclosure of 50 M USD. With that much investment coming on board and no business model presented, it leaves many questions as to why the money is being invested and how it will be returned.
Given the ex-founders had similarly created a new niche of data monetization, time will tell if their new way of the investment may lead to new ways of investment recovery. With no business case published yet, time will tell how they plan to return the investment and how the data and privacy will fit into the equation.
Telegram:
Pros:
It is another famous app that is Russian-backed and has many new features that are compatible with WhatsApp.
Cons:
Similar to WhatsApp, their data monetization plans include adverts to be introduced on public channels leading many to question how much data will be disclosed to advertisers. In light of this fine print, it can lead to a potential Pandora’s box of how the data may be legally allowed to be shared under the pretense of advertising data.
Viber:
Pros:
Nice and clean UI similar to Whatsapp with a similar set of features.
Cons:
It is another European-based app that is mostly designed for payments for calls and packages. It has no declaration of not sharing data with any outside parties and given its business model, it can expose it to the potential of data selling hosts.
ZapBuddy:
Pros:
It is a small startup rather than a corporation that we featured early on which has disclosed its business model which is based on Augmented Reality rather than data monetization. This new approach is risky however given the current scenario may prove to be useful, even if less fruitful in the future.
Cons:
The basic set of features is present however lacks more detailed experience such as large files, desktop mode, and status features that we have become accustomed to. It will be like taking a step back from what we have been used to so far. We can forgive them at this point as they do not have a lot of resources to introduce all of the new feature sets soon, however, we do wish to get them sooner than later.
Botim:
Pros:
Calls allowed for UAE easily.
Cons:
Advertisements are loaded on almost all screens affecting the user experience.
The data is being shared with the government to comply with the local restrictions and the data privacy is hence for sure compromised, even if it is for security reasons.
| Platform | Telegram | Signal | ZapBuddy | Botim | |
| End to End Encrypted | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Chat Backups | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Screen Security | Limited | Only for secret chats | No | Yes with separate passcode for the app itself from the Mobile code | No |
| Self Destructing messages | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Voice and Video Calls | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Picture Privacy | No | No | No | Yes (patented) | No |
| Government Sharing | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Desktop Mode | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
These are the most secure Whatsapp alternative apps that you can install and use. For more updates stay in touch with daytimes.pk.