HONG KONG / NEW DELHI / SINGAPORE – A topic has been trending on social media in recent weeks in Hong Kong, which has come under increasing scrutiny in Beijing following a national security law imposed on the territory last year.
“I went from ICQ to MSN, from MSN to WhatsApp. It’s not that hard to switch to another app!” The line refers to the popular instant messaging tools that have appeared in the last 20 years.
It’s 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 dismayed many users by rewriting its terms of use on January 6. .
The new terms will essentially allow Facebook, the owner of WhatsApp, to have access to certain personal information, such as contact lists, location, financial information and usage data.
Since then, WhatsApp rivals have seen a record number of downloads.
Signal, a private messaging application, recorded 7.5 million downloads globally between January 6 and January 10 following approvals from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. This marks a 43-fold increase from the previous week, according to Sensor Tower, an application analysis company.
Awareness of data privacy has risen in Hong Kong following anti-government demonstrations in 2019, when protesters used anonymous messaging applications to avoid surveillance. © Reuters
Another messaging app, Telegram, said it gathered more than 25 million new users worldwide between January 10 and 12, helping them exceed 500 million active users – compared to 2 billion monthly active users. you have WhatsApp since February last year.
Despite assurances from WhatsApp that the company does not access and cannot access private conversations, because they are automatically encrypted from one end to the other, it failed to stop mass migration.
Signal and Telegram have surpassed both Apple and Google app stores in several countries in the past week, including the US, several European nations and Asian countries where WhatsApp is the dominant messenger.
“After seeing the long list of personal data statements on WhatsApp, I decided to change [to] Signal me to protect my privacy, “said Kwok Ka-wing, president of the General Union of Employees of the Financial Industry in Hong Kong, adding that he is concerned about the excessive control of Big Tech companies.
Kwok is among dozens of activists, scientists and celebrities in Hong Kong who have demanded that people abandon WhatsApp, which is used by almost 80% of the city’s population. Awareness of privacy and data security has risen in the financial center after widespread anti-government protests in 2019, when protesters used anonymous messaging applications to avoid police surveillance.
“Migration to Signal reflects growing concerns about privacy and security more generally and the loss of trust in WhatsApp and Facebook, in particular,” said Lokman Tsui, an assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who specializes in privacy and online communications. .
“Facebook has promised not to force WhatsApp to share data with them when they bought WhatsApp,” he said. “They broke that promise.”
Tsui added that Signal, a nonprofit application that collects only the absolute metadata needed, made it stand out in an increasingly crowded field of applications. Signal is backed by donations, including a $ 50 million loan from its co-founder Brian Acton, who also helped create WhatsApp and has long been a data privacy advocate.
Some analysts believe that India, WhatsApp’s largest single market, with a strong 400 million user base, will not be affected in a major way, despite the exodus reported elsewhere. © Reuters
To bring more people to Signal, 26-year-old Fiona Wong, a graphic designer in Hong Kong, contributed to a public database that makes WhatsApp sticks usable on Signal.
“I hope this will provide more incentives for my friends and others to migrate,” she said. “At the end of the day, the success of a messaging app depends only on whether the people around you are actively using it,” she said.
WhatsApp’s new privacy rules aim to make it easier to place ads on other Facebook-owned platforms. This allows Facebook to monetize the free messaging service it purchased for $ 19 billion in 2014. Users who refuse to agree to the new terms starting Feb. 8 can only use limited features after that.
Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has called on WhatsApp to delay the deadline and “provide practical alternatives” for those who disagree with the new terms to continue using the service.
For now, Europe is the only region in the world where the new WhatsApp privacy terms do not apply, as strict EU privacy laws have allowed authorities to fine companies with up to 4% of global annual revenue if they comply with regulations.
However, in India, WhatsApp’s largest single market, with a strong base of 400 million users, some analysts believe it will not be affected in a major way, despite the exodus reported elsewhere.
“There will always be the most mobile ascendants, the more education on privacy, the layers of people who will move [to other apps]”Obviously, but we’re not talking about two million users here,” Vir Gogia, chief analyst, founder and CEO of Greyhound Research, told Nikkei Asia Sanchit.
“Even the two million, by the way, don’t move completely from WhatsApp and move, say, to Signal or Telegram. It’s added to it,” he said.
“WhatsApp has engaged in India in a very big way and has essentially established the ecosystem of content players, of the trade players around it, which allows it to thrive in the country,” Gogia said. “Simply from this perspective, neither Signal nor Telegram have made a visible commitment to the country at all.”
Singapore’s digital messaging users have increasingly adopted rival platforms for WhatsApp, such as Telegram, just before WhatsApp announced its updated terms of service. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Indeed, WhatsApp is commonly used by Asian companies to communicate with customers with many who have chatbots tailored to the application. The company launched WhatsApp Business in early 2018 and entered the field of payments in its two largest markets, India and Brazil.
Neha Bhatnagar, 40, a professional in corporate communications in the Indian capital, said that people on the contact list have started downloading Signal and Telegram in recent days, while remaining active on WhatsApp.
“I joined Signal myself on Monday just to see how many people I know are on it now, and I found that about 100 of the more than 1,050 contacts on my phone added Signal. But all my personal and official groups are still on WhatsApp and I intend to continue using the app, “she said, adding:” Why should I switch? Data on your phone and laptop is already compromised [or] leaked any application you use. Nothing is called “privacy.”
However, Gogia said that privacy is a very personal concept. “What may be very private to you may not be private to me.” He also noted that sensitivity to privacy in India is lower than in other Asian countries.
Singapore’s digital messaging users have embraced more and more rival WhatsApp platforms, such as Telegram, just before WhatsApp announced its updated terms of use. But WhatsApp remains widely used. In a report published in February last year, the data analysis platform DataReportal mentioned that 81% of internet users aged between 16 and 64 in a survey said they use WhatsApp.
Su Lian Jye, chief analyst at technology analysis firm ABI Research, said he had not noticed an exodus from WhatsApp to Singapore.
“I think the predominant attitudes that make WhatsApp sticky in Singapore are in the strength of the WhatsApp brand, ease of use and simplicity,” he said. “In the West, privacy and the protection of personal data are the main concerns. People are actively looking for tools and solutions that prioritize these issues.”
However, there are those in the city-state who want to leave WhatsApp.
Justin Kan, 37, a financial advisor, downloaded Telegram and Signal to supplement the use of Facebook’s messaging platform. But Kan admits that he failed to completely give up WhatsApp, 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, we’ve seen more and more people joining Signal and Telegram, which is encouraging. This means that a lot of people are starting to see the impact that apps like WhatsApp have on our privacy.”
Similarly, Wong in Hong Kong admits that he cannot give up all the platforms owned by Facebook overnight, despite concerns about privacy, given the lack of good alternatives.
“But if WhatsApp migration can be sustained, it will motivate more privacy-conscious companies to fight Facebook and Instagram and give users more options,” she said.