At present, a great majority of people have WhatsApp account on their mobile phones and they use it very much too. But here’s something really bad for all WhatsApp users. The much-loved app has got the least marks in the annual report of “Who’s Got Your Back?” by EFF (Electronic Freedom Foundation) that analyzes concerns related to privacy as well as govt. requests in relation to data.
According to the research, it’s merely WhatsApp which has received the extremely poor rating of just one star for privacy.
EFF examines different tech organizations on the basis of these 5 criteria:
- Following best practices which are industry-accepted
- Informing users on the subject of data demands made by govt.
- Revealing policies related to data retention
- Revealing requests of content deletion made by govt.
- Opposing backdoors publicly which provide access to govt. on user data.
In accordance with online freedom and privacy group, the Facebook-owned messaging app doesn’t need any warrant prior to providing data to law enforcement organizations, neither it has any requirement of publishing the transparency report as numerous firms do.
At the same time, the messaging application doesn’t give an assurance about users receiving notification beforehand regarding data demands made by govt. Well, it does not end here and on a criticizing note, it is reported that the firm doesn’t make public requests of content deletion or on policies related to data retention.
One and only criterion in which it’s found to be acceptable is opposing backdoors publicly which provide access to govt. on user data.
Below is the list which shows the ranking of few major tech companies:
As you can see in the list, Apple, Dropbox, Yahoo and Adobe are the only ones to get a rating of 5 stars, whereas Microsoft and Google both have got merely 3-star ratings.
After seeing this report, will you continue to use WhatsApp as you have been doing till now? Or will you stop and suggest the same to your friends and family? Share your views in the comments section below!