Comparing Mobile Applications like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram & Facebook in terms of Data Drain!

In the advanced age of Information and technology, people are drawn to use computer and  computer application. But the use of Mobile Application and development is even newer and rapidly growing sector.  There is a global positive impact of mobile application.  With mobile applications, developed countries are  becoming facilitated and people of developing  countries are upgrading themselves and coping with it gradually. Mobile applications are easy, running on a small hand hold devices like smart phones which are portable, convenient to use and accessible from anywhere and any place. These days so many people are using mobile application for communication, internet surfing, file content management, document creating and  handling as well as entertainment. People could do many things starting from their daily lives to their and business lives.

The advanced Applications has an also benefited immensely to huge business companies that are earning revenue with these.

Mobile applications however, run in a mobile environment the usability of which depends on several factors such as: Screen resolution, Hardware limitations, Expensive Data Usage, Connectivity issues, Limited interaction possibilities etc. Since the last few years  mobile  companies are trying to develop mobile devices with better screen resolution, more storage, better  connectivity which provide better environment for modern mobile applications. However, it is interesting to note here that, although these new fun ways of interaction, communication and entertainment are grabbing attention of huge masses, actually how safe they are in terms of data and information about us, the customers.  Below let’s discuss about four major popular applications that we use in our everyday lives in our smart phones or PCs and look out for hoe secure they are in consumption of our data. WhatsApp’s new privacy policy has gotten the public worried but how much data does it collect in comparison to other messaging apps for instance Signal, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger? Well, it is a lot more as it turns out, as shown by the privacy labels of these messaging apps and as shown on Apple’s App Store. Both apps owned by Facebook i.e. Messenger and WhatsApp do collect usage data and location details, unlike other apps. While in contrast, Signal seems to be the most private messaging app and doesn’t collect any of the user data, as per the privacy details highlighted on the App Store but the previous two do. Probably, obviously given this fact, Facebook before criticised about Apple’s move to show privacy labels.

According to the details available on the App Store Facebook Messenger acts the most acquisitive when it comes to user data collection, followed by WhatsApp. The data details that both these apps collect includes users’ financial information, purchase history, location details, contact information such as phone number, email address, and usage data. At a time when people are expressing worries about WhatsApp’s new privacy policy changes, that directs you to accept it or your account will be deleted, it’s out of the ordinary to note all the data that the application, which has 400 million users in India alone, is collecting. Well, if you have an iPhone, you can see such details on the App Store yourself. Below are the details of all the data that these apps are collecting of a customer.