Worried about privacy after Facebook bought WhatsApp? You have alternatives

By G Kiongo

The big news in tech is that social network firm Facebook has acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion (Sh1.64 trillion) in cash and stock.

For those of us who may have just woken up from cryogenic chambers and do not know about this start-up, let me explain. WhatsApp is a mobile multimedia messaging app that does a lot — short of cooking for you.  It allows you to send unlimited multimedia messages for free for one year, and then charges $0.99 (Sh85) per year after that.

You can send pictures, videos, chat messages, contacts, location data and even voice messages.

WhatsApp sees about 18 billion messages a day — these are more messages than the world’s volume of SMSs. It has more than 450 million users a month.

It is with this in mind that you can begin to understand why Facebook agreed to the Sh1.6 trillion price tag — which is enough money to run the Kenyan economy this current financial year.

But why would Facebook train its sights on an app everyone else is downloading for free in the first place? And that brings in less than a billion dollars in revenue?

Well, it is no secret Facebook is after your data.

This is what is used to tailor adverts on their social networking site to your specific biases. This information generates millions of dollars in revenue for Facebook. 

With 18 billion messages a day, Facebook has hit a big data minefield, especially given it is on mobile. 

Mobile platform data is the fairest queen in the techsphere right now, and in comparison to the other major players in the arena — such as Google, Apple and Microsoft who all have mobile operating platforms that allow them to peek into your mobile data — Facebook is playing catch up.

User experience

This is why we are seeing Facebook lap up popular mobile apps, including Instagram, which it bought for $1 billion in 2012.

In their efforts to monetise Facebook, founder Mark Zuckerberg and his crew have been tinkering with the social media platform’s back-end programming to no end — supposedly to improve the user experience.

But Facebook is still losing its shine. In fact, some Kenyans on Twitter have taken to dubbing it “Mukuru kwa Zuckerberg”, likening it to the slum of social networks.

With its constantly changing and confusing privacy policy, we are seeing Facebook sharing more and more of what we thought was personal data with third-party companies.

This is a real concern for privacy buffs, and some have even closed their Facebook accounts and opted for social media alternatives that meet the needs once met by Facebook.

These alternatives have included Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp, but with the last two being acquired by Facebook, you can see why many are anxious. 

In the words of Twitter user Shannon Self: “Facebook is like an evil parent that keeps finding the new hiding place for your diary.” 

The issue becomes even more worrying when you realise that WhatsApp can change terms and conditions at any time — without notifying its users.

So, what does this mean for you as a user?

Two things. One, you can choose to believe Zuckerberg’s recent post on the buyout that: “WhatsApp will continue to operate independently within Facebook. The product roadmap will remain unchanged.”

Or two, you can be more practical about your data and hop on to alternative messaging apps.

The options

If you choose the latter category, there are currently several noteworthy alternatives to WhatsApp that are not owned by Facebook.

Telegram: A free cross-platform messaging app with a focus on security that allows users to send encrypted and self-destructing messages, photos, videos and documents. It is available on both Android and Apple platforms.

Line: It features a wide array of multimedia offerings, including an appstore with games and experience enhancing tools.

Viber: It features multimedia messaging with a focus on voice-over-Internet protocol (Voip), which means it allows you to make phone calls through an Internet connection on your mobile phone or tablet.

Hopefully these alternatives will put your mind at ease when you share that video of you singing that ever so embarrassing rendition of your favourite song.

The writer is a tech enthusiast.

Do you have any tech questions or concerns? Send an email to bizbeat@standardmedia.co.ke