HONG KONG / NEW DELHI / SINGAPORE – A theme was popular on social media in Hong Kong last week, which is increasingly coming under the watchful eye of Beijing after a national security law was imposed on the territory last year.
“We made it from ICQ to MSN, from MSN to WhatsApp. It’s not that difficult to switch to another app!” The line refers to popular instant messaging tools that have come and gone for the past 20 years.
It’s an indication that people in the city have joined social media users around the world in a shift to other messaging platforms over privacy concerns, after WhatsApp appalled many users by rewriting its terms of use on January 6.
The new terms will essentially 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 rivals have seen record downloads.
Signal, a private messaging app, registered 7.5 million downloads worldwide between January 6 and January 10, following approval from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. That’s a 43-fold increase from the previous week, according to Sensor Tower, an app analytics company.
Awareness of data privacy has grown in Hong Kong following anti-government protests in 2019, when protesters used anonymous messaging apps 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, surpassing 500 million active users – compared to WhatsApp’s 2 billion monthly active users. in February last year.
Despite WhatsApp’s reassurance that the company cannot access private conversations because they are automatically encrypted end-to-end, it has failed to stop the mass migration.
Signal and Telegram have surpassed both Apple’s 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 WhatsApp’s long list of personal data statements, I decided to switch [to] Signal to protect my privacy, ” said Kwok Ka-wing, Chairman of the Hong Kong Financial Industry Employees General Union, adding that he is wary of the over-scrutiny of Big Tech companies.
Kwok is one of dozens of activists, scientists, and celebrities in Hong Kong who have called on people to leave WhatsApp, which is used by nearly 80% of the city’s population. Awareness for data privacy and security has grown in the financial center after the widespread anti-government protests in 2019, when protesters used anonymous messaging apps to avoid police surveillance.
“The migration to Signal reflects growing concerns about privacy and security in general and the loss of trust 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.
“Facebook promised it wouldn’t force WhatsApp to share data with them when they bought WhatsApp,” he said. “They broke that promise.”
Tsui added that Signal, a nonprofit app that collects only the absolutely necessary metadata, made it stand out in an increasingly crowded app field. Signal is backed by donations, including a $ 50 million loan from co-founder Brian Acton, who also helped create WhatsApp and has been a long-time advocate of data privacy.
Some analysts believe that India, WhatsApp’s largest single market with a strong 400 million users, will not be affected widely, 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 this will give more incentive to my friends and other people to migrate,” she said. “Ultimately, the success of a messaging app depends only on whether people around you actively use it,” she said.
WhatsApp’s new privacy rules aim to facilitate the placement of advertisements on other platforms owned by Facebook. 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 February 8 will only be able to use limited features thereafter.
Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has urged WhatsApp to postpone the deadline and provide “practical alternatives” to those who do not agree to the new terms to continue using the service.
For now, Europe is the only region in the world where WhatsApp’s new privacy terms do not apply, as the European Union’s strict privacy laws have allowed authorities to fine companies up to 4% of global annual revenue if they violate the regulations.
But in India, WhatsApp’s largest single market with a strong 400 million users, some analysts believe this will not be widely affected, despite the exodus being reported elsewhere.
“There will always be the more upwardly mobile, the more privacy-educated types of people who will move [to other apps], of course, but we’re not talking about two million users here, ”Sanchit Vir Gogia, lead analyst, founder and CEO of Greyhound Research, told Nikkei Asia.
“Even those two million, by the way, aren’t completely leaving WhatsApp and moving to, say, Signal or Telegram. They add something to it,” he said.
“WhatsApp has committed itself to India in a very big way and has essentially established the ecosystem of content players, of commercial players around it, allowing it to thrive in the country,” said Gogia. “From that perspective, neither Signal nor Telegram have made any visible commitment to the country.”
Digital messaging users in Singapore are increasingly using competing platforms for WhatsApp, such as Telegram, even before WhatsApp announced the updated terms of service. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Indeed, WhatsApp is often used by businesses in Asia to communicate with customers, with many having chatbots tailored to the app. The company launched WhatsApp Business in early 2018 and entered payments territory in the two largest markets, India and Brazil.
Neha Bhatnagar, 40, a business communications professional in the Indian capital, said people in her contact list have started downloading Signal and Telegram in recent days while staying active on WhatsApp.
“I joined Signal myself on Monday to see how many people I know are on it now and found that about 100 of the 1050+ contacts in my phone had added Signal. But all my personal and official groups are still on WhatsApp and I plan to keep using the app, ‘she said, adding,’ Why should I switch? Data on your phone and laptop is already compromised [or] leaked whatever app you are using. There is nothing 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.
Digital messaging users in Singapore have also increasingly adopted competing platforms for WhatsApp, such as Telegram, even before WhatsApp announced the updated terms of service. But WhatsApp continues to be widely used. In a report published last February, data analytics platform DataReportal noted that 81% of internet users aged 16 to 64 said in a survey that they used WhatsApp.
Su Lian Jye, chief analyst at technology analytics firm ABI Research, said he has not seen an exodus of WhatsApp in Singapore.
“I think the prevailing beliefs that make WhatsApp sticky in Singapore have to do with the power of WhatsApp’s branding, ease of use and simplicity,” he said. “In the West, privacy and data protection are the main concerns. People are actively seeking tools and solutions that prioritize these aspects.”
However, there are people in the city-state who want to leave WhatsApp.
Justin Kan, 37, a financial adviser, has downloaded Telegram and Signal in addition to his use of Facebook’s messaging platform. But Kan admits that he has not been able to completely leave WhatsApp as most of his contacts are still using the platform, with less than 30 contacts on Signal.
“I still have to use WhatsApp,” Kan said. “But lately I have seen more and more people join Signal and Telegram, which is encouraging. This means that many people are also starting to see the impact apps like WhatsApp have on our privacy.”
Likewise, in Hong Kong, Wong admits that despite privacy concerns, she can’t leave all of Facebook’s platforms overnight, given the lack of good alternatives.
“But if the WhatsApp migration holds up, it will motivate more privacy-conscious businesses to compete with Facebook and Instagram and give users more options,” she said.