Washington (AFP)

When WhatsApp users began to be alarmed by the new data protection rules on the platform, members of an amateur football group in the city of Washington decided to ditch the Facebook messenger, which they used as their means of communication, in favor of its rival, Signal.

This decision was aimed at "making as many customers as possible leave the Facebook empire, which has become too big and too powerful for my taste," explains Bernhard Fleck, one of the players.

The turmoil caused by the announced changes to WhatsApp's privacy policy threatens to erode confidence in this subsidiary of Facebook, yet crucial to the future of the social media giant.

Faced with the controversy, the Californian company announced in January that it would postpone by three months the entry into force of the new WhatsApp terms of use, described by its detractors as an attempt to expand the collection of personal data.

Messaging, which claims 2 billion users, assures for its part that this is a misunderstanding and that the update is intended to help merchants better communicate with their customers via WhatsApp.

Despite these explanations and the postponement of the implementation of the new regulation, now scheduled for May 15, many individuals have deserted messaging to join services like Signal or Telegram.

For Ryan Calo, a researcher at the Tech Policy Lab at the University of Washington, the negative reactions to WhatsApp announcements are understandable.

"The original sin was to buy WhatsApp and integrate it into the business model of Facebook, which monetizes all the data collected," said this specialist in the protection of privacy.

"The changes are not as dystopian as many people imagine. But they are a step towards a model that many people fear," he continues.

- New template for Facebook -

Acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $ 19 billion, WhatsApp is a strategic asset for Mark Zuckerberg's group, which sees the growth of its social network skating.

Facebook's desire to integrate messaging into its "family" of applications has generated controversy, prompting several US states to initiate legal proceedings to investigate the conditions for acquiring WhatsApp and Instagram.

In a recent note, analyst Justin Post, of investment bank Merril Lynch, believes that WhatsApp will continue to be "an important driver of the future stock market value of Facebook" and believes the group will overcome the problems as it did it a few years ago with the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The social media giant should increasingly seek to monetize the app, predicts Jasmine Enberg, analyst for market research firm eMarketer.

"It was only a matter of time before Facebook found a way to create a source of income," says Ms. Enberg.

According to the analyst, since Facebook has visibly ruled out using WhatsApp for advertising, the company plans to make it an e-commerce platform with professional tools for customer service and support.

- Data already shared -

Privacy specialists point out that WhatsApp is already sharing data with Facebook since new rules were put in place in 2016, but users then had the option of opting out.

European Union citizens were also protected by EU privacy laws.

WhatsApp's desire to impose these measures is "a bit like an insult to the intelligence of users," says Gennie Gebhart, researcher for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

"People discovered that WhatsApp was sharing a lot more data than they knew it to be, which made the situation worse and reacted," she adds.

Ms. Gebhard specifies, however, that the alternatives are limited, due to the size of the platform and its free access.

According to eMarketer data released last year, WhatsApp accounted for 99% of mobile messaging app users in Brazil, 97% in India and 52% in the United States.

For Enberg, WhatsApp's recent woes are unlikely to slow its momentum, not least because of the “disconnect” between what people say and what they do when it comes to privacy.

"Of course, a lot of people are leaving and there could be more," said the analyst.

"But it's unlikely we'll see a mass exodus. And with WhatsApp's user base being so large, that's precisely what it would take to have a real impact."

© 2021 AFP