DUBAI: Signal is more comfortable instant messaging service to use compared with other apps such as WhatsApp or Telegram, according to half of those who responded to an Arab News poll.
Signal’s surge in popularity among smartphone users, thanks to a two-word tweet from technology entrepreneur Elon Musk endorsing the encrypted messaging service, clearly showed as 50 percent of the 1,451 respondents expressed contentment with it.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp, badly hit by a backlash after updating its privacy policy, got a thumbs-up from three out of 10 poll respondents while Telegram had about a tenth of supporters. The remaining 10 percent of Arab New readers who responded to the poll meanwhile said none of the three instant messaging apps were comfortable to use.
#POLL What instant messaging app are you most comfortable using?
— Arab News (@arabnews) January 16, 2021
Musk earlier urged users to “Use Signal” after WhatsApp, the most popular instant messaging app, was accused of forcing subscribers to share their personal data with its parent company Facebook for advertising.
Users had to accept these new terms before February 8, otherwise their accounts will be deleted. The ensuing furor prompted WhatsApp to delay its take it or leave it privacy update until May.
It likewise came out with a clarification the privacy changes were focused on how businesses used the app.
“We want to be clear that the policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family in any way,” WhatsApp said in a statement.
“Instead, this update includes changes related to messaging a business on WhatsApp, which is optional, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data.”