Textual content Dimension:
New Delhi: Chat app WhatsApp’s recognition in India appears to be proof against privateness considerations.
The app’s privateness framework got here into query amongst customers on account of the reportage on actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s dying and the alleged Bollywood medication scandal it “uncovered”, what with media retailers extensively utilizing purported personal chats involving completely different folks.
Nonetheless, by the concerns and many jokes, WhatsApp downloads in India have continued to extend.
Within the final week of September, when the fervent hypothesis about privateness on WhatsApp led the Fb-owned app to challenge a press release in its defence, its downloads in India surpassed the numbers recorded in earlier months.
In line with information sourced from the Apple App retailer and Google Play retailer by US-based app intelligence agency Sensor Tower, WhatsApp was downloaded an estimated 81 lakh instances in July, 98 lakh instances in August, and 1.14 crore instances in September.
Inside September, there have been 86 lakh downloads from 1 to 23 September, and 28 lakh within the final week, 24-30 September. Because of this the primary three weeks of September noticed 3,73,913 WhatsApp downloads per day, as in comparison with 4 lakh/day within the final week.
An analogous development emerged when WhatsApp was hit by a hacking controversy in late 2019 — it returned to the highest of the numbers recreation after a quick hit in downloads.
Talking to ThePrint, specialists attributed WhatsApp’s continued recognition to its huge attain — it’s estimated to have greater than 40 crore customers in India alone — and the truth that it’s straightforward to make use of.
“It’s widespread, as a result of it’s widespread. Everyone seems to be on WhatsApp, so everybody else can be on WhatsApp. It’s community impact at play,” stated Sajith Pai, a enterprise capitalist with the Mumbai-based funding agency Blume Ventures.
Additionally Learn: After WhatsApp hacking & Covid lockdown, 155% more Indians searched for encrypted email
Privateness considerations
WhatsApp discovered itself in an enormous controversy over the previous few weeks as sure media retailers started to characteristic “leaked” chats of their experiences about an alleged medication scandal involving prime Bollywood celebrities.
This investigation was an offshoot of the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s dying on 14 June, and purported personal chats — involving him, his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and others — made their manner into the general public area on this case too.
Whereas the media retailers’ entry to the chats offered a lot fodder for social media humour, there have been considerations in regards to the safety of conversations performed on WhatsApp.
Because the concerns started gaining traction on-line, on 25 September, WhatsApp issued a statement saying the platform is safe, and inspired customers to practise habits that may forestall third events from probably accessing their messages.
“WhatsApp protects your messages with end-to-end encryption in order that solely you and the individual you’re speaking with can learn what is shipped, and no one in between can entry it, not even WhatsApp,” it stated.
“It’s vital to do not forget that folks enroll on WhatsApp utilizing solely a cellphone quantity, and WhatsApp doesn’t have entry to your message content material. WhatsApp follows steerage offered by working system producers for on-device storage and we encourage folks to reap the benefits of all of the safety features offered by working programs similar to robust passwords or biometric IDs to forestall third events from accessing content material saved on the machine,” the WhatsApp assertion stated.
That is just like what occurred in 2019, when WhatsApp customers have been discovered to have been hacked utilizing a spyware and adware named Pegasus. In October 2019, it was reported that round 1,400 folks the world over — together with not less than two dozen in India — had been hacked by WhatsApp with using the subtle spyware and adware.
WhatsApp’s ranking slipped marginally to quantity 4 on the peak of the snooping scandal between 28 and 31 October 2019, after which once more on 2 and three November, however it was again at number one in India by December, in response to Sensor Tower information.
Worldwide, it was the most downloaded non-gaming app in November 2019.
Additionally Learn: WhatsApp hack lasted 2 weeks, but Israeli spyware used on Indians since 2017
How different apps fared
To match WhatsApp downloads with different apps within the encrypted-chat area, Sign registered a fall between July and September.
In July, Sign had roughly 1,18,000 downloads. In August, this had halved to an estimated 59,000 downloads. In September, Sensor Tower information suggests, the app registered 62,000 downloads.
Sign and Telegram, one other messaging app providing encrypted or safe communication, have seen a marginal improve in each day downloads between 1 and 23 September, and the final week of the month, the time home windows employed to map the impression of the privateness controversy on WhatsApp.
Sign was downloaded roughly 1,870 instances/day between 1 September and 23 September, and a couple of,714 instances/day from 24 September to 30 September.
Telegram noticed an estimated 213,043 downloads/day between 1 September and 23 September, and 242,857 within the final week.
Additionally Learn: Zoom, Google Meet out of reach, it’s WhatsApp or no classes for poor students in Delhi
Why WhatsApp is so widespread
Requested about WhatsApp’s recognition, Sajith Pai of Blume Ventures stated “it’s a nice product”.
Enterprise capitalists are continuously looking out for promising tech merchandise to spend money on, in change for an fairness stake, and thus have a pulse available on the market.
“It (WhatsApp) may be very straightforward to make use of and everybody from the subsequent billion person (a brand new person to the web) to seasoned company warriors can use it at their very own degree of consolation. Safety considerations are of consequence solely to journalists and .00001 per cent of Indians,” he added.
“None of us has something confidential there that Pegasus monitoring will trigger considerations. The people who find themselves extremely safety acutely aware have moved to Sign anyway.”
Sign is believed to be one of the most secure chat apps on this planet.
Osama Manzar, founder and director of the Delhi-based Digital Empowerment Basis, which works to extend digital literacy, particularly throughout rural India, echoed the opinion.
“It’s the most straightforward app to make use of for interpersonal messaging, it’s multifunctional that fits Indian customers, who’re principally oral and multilingual and who can use all these functionalities that allow them to share and work together with out being written literate,” he stated.
“It has reached such a degree of mass adoption that everybody feels it needed to speak with their friends — professionally in addition to personally. It’s also essentially the most helpful app for doing workplace work, to handle work, to handle teams for skilled work administration, and for doing enterprise for micro and nano enterprises,” he added.
Additionally Learn: How to prevent Navika Kumar from reading your private WhatsApp chats
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
Why information media is in disaster & How one can repair it
India wants free, honest, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism much more because it faces a number of crises.
However the information media is in a disaster of its personal. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. One of the best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the best younger reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this high quality wants good and pondering folks such as you to pay for it. Whether or not you reside in India or abroad, you are able to do it here.
