So if you were one of those who thought WhatsApp is safe and will not reveal any kind of personal information like other apps and websites do, then you might be in for a bitter shock. As per a recent revelation by ‘Who Has Your Back?’ a part of Electronic Frontier Foundation, it is found that WhatsApp doesn’t meet any guidelines of protecting user privacy.
EFF has a set of guidelines to decide if an app or website are securing the user information. It judges them on the following verticals:
- Following industry-wide best practices on data security.
- Sending notifications to users as and when government requests their data.
- Maintaining transparency on company data retention policies.
- Disclosing government requests on removing specific content.
- Publicly opposing back-doors that allow government access to user data.
Post a detailed check, WhatsApp failed to fulfill the criteria for the guidelines and this has come as a huge disappointment to many. Touted as one of the most secured and most loved cross-platform messaging app, WhatsApp is not what it promises to be.
As per EFF, WhatsApp was informed about this flaw and was given almost a years’ time to up the ante and adopt the best practices following all guidelines. But the company ignored this very important segment and concentrated more towards enhancing in-app features.
WhatsApp now shares the limelight with few other tech giants like AT&T and Verizon for under the Worst of the Worst category.
However, Apple was given the best rating by EFF and was ranked on the top. Others include Dropbox, Adobe, Yahoo, WordPress, and Wikimedia who have satisfied all the guidelines.
Well, this report on WhatsApp has certainly made us believe that “All that glitters, is not gold.”
