HONG KONG / NEW DELHI / SINGAPORE – A theme has been trending on social media in Hong Kong over the past week, which has increasingly come under the watchful eye of Beijing following the introduction of a national security law in the area last year.
“We made it from ICQ to MSN, from MSN to WhatsApp. It’s not that hard to switch to another app!” The line refers to popular instant messaging tools that have come and gone over the past 20 years.
This is an indication that people in the city have joined social media users around the world in a move to other messaging platforms due to privacy concerns, after WhatsApp upset many users by rewriting the January 6 terms of use.
The new terms will, in effect, allow Facebook, the owner of WhatsApp, to access certain personal information, such as contact lists, location, financial information and usage data.
Since then, WhatsApp’s competitors have seen a record number of downloads.
Signal, a private messaging app, recorded 7.5 million downloads worldwide between January 6 and January 10, following the approval of Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former U.S. contractor Edward Snowden. According to Sensor Tower, an app analytics company, this is 43 times more than the previous week.
Awareness of data privacy has increased in Hong Kong following protests against the government in 2019, when protesters used anonymous messaging programs to avoid surveillance. © Reuters
Another messaging app, Telegram, said it gathered more than 25 million new users around the world between January 10 and January 12, helping it surpass 500 million active users – compared to WhatsApp’s 2 billion monthly active users from February last year.
Despite assuring WhatsApp that the company does not have access to private conversations and does not, as it is automatically encrypted, the mass migration cannot be stopped.
Signal and Telegram have reached both Apple and Google’s app stores in several countries over the past week, including the US, several European countries and Asian countries where WhatsApp is the dominant messenger.
‘After seeing the long list of personal data statements from WhatsApp, I decided to move [to] Signal to protect my privacy, ‘said Kwok Ka-wing, chairman of the Hong Kong Financial Industry Employment General Union, adding that he was wary of excessive control of Big Tech companies.
Kwok is one of the many activists, scholars and celebrities in Hong Kong who have called for people to abandon WhatsApp, which is used by almost 80% of the city’s population. Awareness of privacy and data security has increased in the financial center following the widespread protests against the government in 2019, when protesters used anonymous messaging programs to avoid police surveillance.
“The migration to Signal reflects growing concerns about privacy and security in general and losing confidence in WhatsApp and Facebook, more specifically,” said Lokman Tsui, an assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who specializes in privacy. and online communication said.
“Facebook has promised that it will not force WhatsApp to share data with them when they buy WhatsApp,” he said. “They broke that promise.”
Tsui added that Signal, a non-profit app that collects only the absolutely necessary metadata, has made it stand out in an increasingly busy field. Signal is backed by donations, including a $ 50 million loan from co-founder Brian Acton, who also helped create WhatsApp and has long been a proponent of data privacy.
Some analysts believe that India, WhatsApp’s largest single market with a strong user base of 400 million, will not be affected to a great extent, despite the exodus reported elsewhere. © Reuters
To bring more people to Signal, Fiona Wong (26), a graphic designer in Hong Kong, contributed to a public database that makes WhatsApp stickers usable on Signal.
“I hope it will encourage my friends and other people more to migrate,” she said. “At the end of the day, the success of a messaging app just depends on whether people around you are actively using it,” she said.
The new privacy rules of WhatsApp are aimed at facilitating the placement of ads on other Facebook platforms. This enables Facebook to earn the free messaging service it acquired in 2014 for $ 19 billion. Users who refuse to agree to the new terms starting on February 8 can only use restricted features thereafter.
The Hong Kong Privacy Watchdog has urged WhatsApp to postpone the deadline and to offer ‘practical alternatives’ to those who do not agree to the new terms, to continue with the service.
For the time being, Europe is the only region in the world where WhatsApp’s new privacy conditions do not apply, as the European Union’s strict privacy laws allow authorities to fine companies as much as 4% of global annual revenue if they waver regulations. .
In India, the largest single market of WhatsApp, with a strong user base of 400 million, some analysts believe that it will not be greatly affected, despite the exodus reported elsewhere.
“There will always be the more upward moving, the more privacy-trained kind of layers of people moving [to other apps]”Of course, but we are not talking about two million users here,” Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst, founder and CEO of Greyhound Research, told Nikkei Asia.
“Even the two million, by the way, are not completely moving out of WhatsApp and going to, let’s say, Signal or Telegram. They’re adding to that,” he said.
“WhatsApp has committed itself to India in a very big way and has essentially established the ecosystem of content players and merchants around it, which is making it thrive in the country,” Gogia said. “Purely from that perspective, no Signal or Telegram has made any visible connection with the country.”
Users of digital messaging in Singapore have increasingly adopted competing platforms on WhatsApp, such as Telegram, even before WhatsApp announced its updated Terms of Service. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Indeed, WhatsApp is commonly used by businesses in Asia to communicate with customers, with many chatbots customized on the app. The company launched WhatsApp Business in early 2018 and has entered the payment empire in its two largest markets, India and Brazil.
Neha Bhatnagar, 40, a professional communications professional in the Indian capital, said people in her contact list have started downloading Signal and Telegram over the past few days while staying active on WhatsApp.
“I joined Signal on Monday just to see how many people I know, and found that about 100 of more than 1,050 contacts added to Signal in my phone. But all my personal and official groups are still on WhatsApp and I plan to to continue using the app, “she said, adding:” Why do I need to switch? Data on your phone and laptop is already at risk [or] whatever app you are using has leaked. Nothing is called ‘privacy’. “
However, Gogia said privacy is a very personal concept. “What may be very private to you may not be private to me.” He also noted that the sensitivity to privacy in India is lower than in other Asian countries.
Users of digital messaging in Singapore have also increasingly adopted competitive platforms for WhatsApp, such as Telegram, even before WhatsApp announced its updated Terms of Service. But WhatsApp is widely used. In a report published in February last year, DataReportal, a data analytics platform, noted that 81% of Internet users aged 16 to 64 said in a survey that they use WhatsApp.
Su Lian Jye, chief analyst at technology analytics firm ABI Research, said he had not observed an exit from WhatsApp in Singapore.
“I think the attitude that makes WhatsApp tough in Singapore is the strength of WhatsApp’s brand, the ease of use and simplicity,” he said. “In the West, privacy and personal data protection are the biggest concerns. People are actively seeking tools and solutions that prioritize these aspects.”
There are people in the city state who want to leave WhatsApp.
Justin Kan, 37, a financial adviser, downloaded Telegram and Signal to supplement his use of the Facebook messaging platform. Can admit, however, that he could not drop WhatsApp completely, as most of his contacts still use the platform, with less than 30 contacts on Signal.
“I still have to use WhatsApp,” Kan said. “But lately, I’ve been seeing more and more people joining Signal and Telegram, which is encouraging. It means a lot of people are also starting to see the impact that apps like WhatsApp have on our privacy.”
Similarly, Wong acknowledges in Hong Kong that despite privacy issues, she cannot leave all platforms owned by Facebook overnight, given the lack of good alternatives.
“But if the WhatsApp migration can continue, it will motivate more privacy-conscious businesses to contend with Facebook and Instagram and offer more options to users,” she said.