Netizens chary of privacy, some shrug it off

Hyderabad: One major beneficial feature of smartphones is to communicate from anywhere using free messaging apps. Subsequently, these apps started dominating voice chat space as well. However, smartphone users are feeling discomfort over the frequent updates from the parent companies of messaging apps.

One such instance is from WhatsApp, which has asked its users to accept the update requisition on their personal details. This has let down its users over updated terms of service and privacy policies, which were set to take effect on February 8. The users tell Bizz Buzz that they are familiar with the ongoing issue of WhatsApp in Supreme Court and few understand the seriousness of the issue and soon shifted to other apps though actively using WhatsApp, others don't consider it harmful as they think if one is using smartphone, Google might already know all the information of particular person.

One of the users shares that ongoing privacy issue is not at all a concern and news to worry about as he thinks everyone fed huge information to these apps till now. "We all are using Android mobiles and enough of data exploitation is been done already because we can't survive without giving information like our credit or debit card details for one or the other purpose, once if they are out on Google, it shares information with other companies for advertisements and it does track every work we do but now a days WhatsApp is only being highlighted which is not at all a concern to me as I know what all information I am feeding these apps," says Phanee, a system engineer with TCS.

Another thing I noticed about Signal app is they don't have data servers and our mobile is their data server, if once any information is deleted from our side it is totally deleted but WhatsApp has data server and backup which stores all our information, observes Phanee.

Manoj Vamshi, YouTube Manager for a private firm, considers the issue serious and afraid of what information might be shared by the apps. "I am aware about the privacy issue and not only me but every individual might have read about it. Question arises is how many of them understand the issue. I feel most of them just shifted to other apps because they were afraid of the WhatsApp update popups which we got recently and now the date has been postponed". Personally, the whole privacy issue is serious as I might share valid financial information and also why should one app store the details of my chats, if I wish that I need certain data I have an option to save and I will do it, he added.

Another WhatsApp user Sandeep said: "I am using Telegram just like WhatsApp and if I consider privacy policies of WhatsApp, I feel these apps have subconscious affect on us that we can't live without them and our phone is an open book for many apps, information is no more private unless we are smart users, AI took control over humans which is again developed by humans, only one thing we can do is be careful while allowing permissions to Apps to access data who steal our information to make business out of it."

On asking about the shifting to alternative platforms and rise of new applications, Y Kiran Chandra, president of IT Forum, Hyderabad, advises that "people should not be using WhatsApp for multiple reasons because it abuses our privacy, WhatsApp and Facebook have a policy in which they end up manipulating individual behaviour, Now, why people moved away from WhatsApp is because there is growing awareness on the aspects of privacy and people have become serious on questioning policies of these applications and hence moved away"