Leave whatsapp or stay?

Leaving the WhatsApp social network or continuing with WhatsApp is the dilemma in which some users of this social network find themselves since January 4, 2021, when WhatsApp informed its users in Africa and America of its new terme of use which will soon become effective while others have not even bothered; they simply rallied the competitors of their ally yesterday including Telegram or Signal, etc.

All people are born equal and everyone is free to make the choice that suits them. However, to make a good choice you must know each of the elements to choose from. This is the rationale for this article, the purpose of which is not to tell you to quit WhatsApp or stay on WhatsApp.

This case, considered the scandal of the century, dates back to 2018. After Facebook's takeover of WhatsApp in 2014, the 2016 update already made it possible to transmit user data to Facebook. Two years later in Ireland Cnil (National Commission for Informatics and Freedoms) started to worry about how the data transfer would take place and this operation did not have the approval of the authorities.

So we have to ask ourselves if what we are asking for today our agreement has not been done since?

On the Internet, social networks and search engines collect information about their users. Some accuse them of selling our data or information which none of them have acknowledged.

We are made to understand that the information collected on users, whether those from Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, Signal, etc., are only used to know their taste in order to know what to offer them, in other words. other terms use it for advertising purposes; however we don't know exactly what these internet giants actually do with it. And we are all aware that what they do with them is not just about what they tell us.

How do these large companies that we use for free manage to support the enormous costs they have to operate?

If today we say we are scandalized and we leave WhatsApp, what proof do you have that the one you are going to does not also do what you have been told here and who makes you flee, and who knows if he does not do any worse.

It’s about time we understood that to accept using the internet is to give up our privacy in a way. Indeed, once you are connected, we share your privacy with you, your conversations are recorded, you are listened to, you are followed. Google can tell you how far you have walked, by car, by motorcycle. At all times you are geolocated.

It is important to remember that when you visit certain websites where you have to log in, you are asked to log into your google or Facebook account or on a social network. And once you log into one of these platforms, you are automatically logged into the website in question. Isn't that an exchange of data too?

Besides, what you don't know are cookies too. A cookie is a small file stored by a server in the terminal (computer, telephone, etc.) according to Wikipedia ... "Statistical" cookies are used to track the actions of an Internet user on a website. We usually know what information these "little files" collect about Internet users, "however, no one can actually tell what information each cookie collects. And today, almost all websites use cookies. So imagine the amount of information gathered about you in just one day when you go from website to website.

By analyzing these things in depth, we can ask ourselves whether on the internet, and every time we benefit from a free service, are we not ourselves the product?

Ultimately, what should be remembered is that if you are concerned about your privacy, then you would do better not to connect to the internet to be sure that you are a little more sheltered and that we were able to protect his privacy by about 50%.

Also, we need to be aware that this is a competitive area, and WhatsApp's rivals who want to steal the show have every interest in making this a scandal in order to gain subscribers.

In addition, WhatsApp is the current social network that knows how to manage the connection so much that those who do not have a good connection can use it without problem. In other skies, this connection factor is negligible. Unfortunately in most African countries this factor is rather decisive and people in African countries must take this factor into account in their decision making.

It is in the light of these realities that some experts in the field of ICT are already predicting that many WhatsApp users who have left it will come back but perhaps we will not be told especially since they do not not going back to the way they left.