WhatsApp is battling mistrust globally after it updated its privacy policy to let it share some user data with parent Facebook and other group firms, and the backlash risks thwarting its ambitions in its biggest market, India.
Though WhatsApp has yet to see mass uninstalls of its app in India, users concerned about privacy are increasingly downloading rival apps such as Signal and Telegram, research firms say, propelling them higher on the download charts and putting those apps ahead of their ubiquitous rival in India for the first time.
Even as WhatsApp sought to calm fears and assure users that neither it nor Facebook would have access to their messages, calls, or call logs, the privacy policy update triggered a storm globally with Signal downloads swelling as people looked for alternative messengers. Downloads of Signal in India jumped to 7,100,000 between Jan. 5 and Jan. 12, from about 15,000 days earlier, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. Telegram downloads surged 40per cent while WhatsApp downloads fell 30per cent in the period.
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