For the past 5 years, I have been doing a PhD research on large social platforms. I want to share a few thoughts on why I am quitting WhatsApp before February 8th 2021. 

As you probably heard by now, WhatsApp is changing its Terms & Conditions as of 8th of February, 2021. Furthermore, as is customary with Facebook companies, the move is unilateral and if users do not accept the new terms, they will lose access to their account. There are two things you want to be very clear about when you make your decision to remain on the platform. What “data” and “privacy” mean and why WhatsApp is making the change. 

WHAT DO DATA & PRIVACY MEAN?

It is not the first assault on our privacy in the race to control the use of our data. WhatsApp has been sharing information with Facebook, its parent company, for a while. However, this change opens the door for major, more intrusive and more unilateral changes that violate the privacy and the dignity of their users. We all know about the privacy issues that come with social platforms. We all know that FB collects our data. But the real questions are: what is this data we are talking about? FB claims that “privacy” is built into their DNA, but how do they define privacy?

Over the years, FB has been very careful to maintain ambiguity about this and have adopted a very narrow definition. They equate data with CONTENT, i.e. WHAT we say in the messages we exchange, and equate privacy with not having access to that content. They say that WhatsApp supports point to point encryption, and even WhatsApp does not have access to the content of what we write, therefore, they respect our privacy. 

This is a FALLACY. The data that FB and WhatsApp want is not the content (what we write), but data on our behaviours when we are on their platform, like where we are, who we contact, how long we stay on the platform, who do we message most, at what time, who is in our network etc… This data is called “breadcrumbs”, because it is a kind of side effect that happens when we use their main service. But it is the most valuable data because, when it is aggregated and analysed by super computers (what is called Big Data), it gives Facebook very deep insights into you, who you are, your personality, what presses your buttons, your body, your health, your mental state, your wishes and many things that you would not want other people to know about you, and rightfully so. 

I often hear people say that “Facebook sells our data”, but Facebook says they don’t and it is true! They do not sell our data, they sell something much more valuable than our raw data. They use our data as raw material to create computer-ready products that they sell on their platform not only to advertisers but to whoever wants to buy them (governments, extremists, third parties trying to influence elections… you name it). In other words, we, the users, have become not the product, but the raw material, the cheap commodity. We are called “users” but a better name should the “USED”. (If you want to know more about this, read Shoshana Zuboff’s “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism”, a powerful eye opener!)

WHY THE CHANGE?

So why is WhatsApp making the changes now? 

First, because Facebook wants to monetise WhatsApp. Think about it as an expensive piece of real estate with just a small house on it. Even if the house is quite nice, that piece of land is not optimised. Facebook wants to create a universe that is so all-encompassing that users never need to leave it. It wants to be the “WeChat of the West”, a place where ultimately, you will be able to socialise, communicate with your friends, share moments, workout, buy stuff, send money, follow your favourite brands or celebrities, fall in love, manage your health and bank accounts or credit cards etc. In other words, Facebook wants you to live your life through Facebook. Why? Well data of course!

Second, because Facebook wants to integrate WhatsApp so deeply into the Facebook family that it will soon be impossible (or very difficult) for regulators to break them down. Think about it as baking a cake. Once the flour and the eggs and the sugar have become the cake, you can’t get the eggs back. Facebook is under scrutiny from governments in several countries. The EU already set up the GDPR, a regulation on data protection and privacy, in 2016. In the US, there is a strong bi-partisan concern and Facebook is being investigated for abuse of dominance and anti competitive conduct, with the idea of possibly breaking it up. But as I said, once the cake is baked, it is really tricky to get the eggs back… 

SO WHAT SHALL I DO?

In the past week or so, many people have downloaded Telegram and Signal, two WhatsApp-like apps that provide instant messaging services. But I also hear a lot of people say they will stay on WhatsApp even though they downloaded the new apps. 

“I will stay on WhatsApp for now but I will quit later”. This is exactly what Facebook is counting on, because they know one fact about human psychology: that we are essentially creatures of habits, and once we are used to doing something in a certain way, it is going to take a lot of effort to change it (ask smokers how easy they find it to stop smoking). Right now, there is a knee jerk reaction, we download Signal or Telegram and it makes us feel better and safer. But in one month time, when another breaking news occupies our (limited) mental space, all will go back to the way we have always done it, i.e. “I’ll WhatsApp you!” 

“I can’t quit WhatsApp, all my friend/clients are there”. True, with over 2 billion users, your friends, family, clients and their cats and dogs are probably all on WhatsApp. But the argument above is the snake biting its own tail. If people leave WhatsApp, people will leave WhatsApp. I am quite certain that you would be surprised if you checked how many people around you actually do have an account on another major messaging app, or are ready to download it and make the switch! (I certainly was). 

So for all those reasons, it’s Farewell WhatsApp for me. And I am looking forward to life without Facebook with curiosity and anticipation!