Can WhatsApp read conversations between me and my friend?

When WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion such a high amount and that too for a free app? What a terrible deal, right? In 2014, the user base of WhatsApp was 500 million users and 1 million new users everyday! Today, WhatsApp has a user base of more than 2 billion and more than 5 billion downloads In $19 Billion, Face book was not just purchasing WhatsApp’s technology but facebook was purchasing WhatsApp’s growing user base, But how does WhatsApp earn money today? The biggest strength of WhatsApp is both kids and seniors alike, every one has learned how to use it. WhatsApp has become a part of our lives. One of WhatsApp’s products is WhatsApp Bussiness APP where WhatsApp can be used by a business for customer interaction.

Today bank sends us our bank balance through a chatbot , When we book an Air Ticket, we get the PNR on our phone. WhatsApp charges money from business to provide such services. A few years ago, WhatsApp had a plan to show its users ads. WhatsApp’s co-founders were against showing advertisements . Facebook already had plans to serve ads on the app before acquisition a difference of opinion with Facebook let too.

WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton quitting the company and he started a new chat App which is called ‘Signal’. A few days go Elon Musk endorsed Signal guess how many people downloaded signal 75 lakh! So after implementing new policy in WhatsApp what is a changed in WhatsApp can facebook read your private messages the answer is NO whatsApp messages are end to end encrypted understand this after you type your message your message is folded or encrypted in a certain way and when the recipient receives the message the recipient account can unfold or decrypt it in a certain way in between Facebook or WhatsApp also cant read the message if this is the same, then what has really changed?

When businesses use WhatsApp to reach out, they use third party tools .if you interact with your bank through whatsapp and that bank uses a third party tool to interact with you then your data will be shared with that third party business too. Secondly Mark Zuckerberg announced in October 2020. That facebook plans to integrate its products, even today both facebook and whatapp collect data but they don’t integrate their complete data. With the new update there will be more data sharing on whatsapp like model, Operating System browser, IP Address, Phone number and Device Identifier , which wants all technical things ,but for a chat app it is a little more. The problem is, after 8th February, we need to choose, either we can stop using whatsapp altogether which is already a big part of our lives or we have to share our data with whatsapp +facebook .If our data is being used to show our personalized ads, then personally speaking, it does not affect me too much. after all ,these products are free and they earn money by displaying ads. The problem comes when this data is breached /hacked..

Many big and reputed companies have frequent data breaches, even in Zomato hackers have stolen 17 million data. In a breach ,a sensitive data like passwords, financial info is stolen the hackers have each and every things of us like our sensitive data, our passwords our payments goes to hackers.

The good thing is that we have started talking about data our privacy problem. But at this moment we do not have a strong Data Protection Act .The work is ongoing but till the bill does not get passed, we ourselves have to be careful.

So what can you do firstly, be careful about what app permissions, you read the OTP once, then you give apps permission to read SMSs. And then you forget to cancel those permissions. On your smart phone you go on settings--- App permissions---remove all except contact and storage (if not required) the similar features are in apple too. Go to settings and then APP permissions and firstly cancel microphone+ camera permissions for least used apps. The same way face book gives you a chance to edit your ad preferences, if you don’t want to watch or see a particular ad if it is not relevant to you, yet you keep seeing it on face book. Then you can go this link https://cutt.ly/0jnNfqr and you can change your preference. Secondly, don’t rely on one app too much. Often we leave passwords and other sensitive data on WHATSAPP. Use a password manager to help store your passwords.

To manage your passwords use last pass or 1password like the encrypted password use them. Don’t put your passwords on whatsapp chats and lastly, go to Have IBeenPwned and enter your email address. So if your password has been leaked in a data breach, you get a warning. TENTION NOT if your password has been leaked change the password on all sites where you have used the same password for login

In the end are we going to delete our whatsapp?

The answer is, NO not right now because whatsapp helps us stay connected to our family. It’s a form of guarantee that a person is on whatsapp at least. But at the same time. We will slowly move to more secure apps like signal to have other options!

So that it does not affect our studies our daily works and our families too, so that our work related important conversations are more secure. This is not only about whatsapp but there are many other apps too. Because in future we don’t know who may acquire them tomorrow, and change their polices to suit their business practices.

Because whatspp plays an important role in each and every once day to day life, without whtatsapp we cannot have our morning tea too. A food without salt is tastless, the same way whatsapp without our life is lifeless.

Go east or west whatsapp is the best!