No! Deleting Whatsapp won’t make you safer online. Here’s what will

You needn’t rush to delete WhatsApp in order to be cyber safe, experts have implored, as South Africans have joined the global band-wagon migrating to alternative messaging apps in their thousands, following Facebook Inc’s update to its terms of service.

The service updates contained an announcement to WhatsApp users earlier this month that Facebook would have access to their private information, including location and contacts.

While digital law and cyber security experts took to social media to suggest that the changes were not much more invasive and concerning than what users were already exposed to, the global reaction had already lead to smaller service providers such as Telegram and Signal gaining millions of new users almost overnight.

On Thursday Telegram surpassed 500 million users while Signal scored 7,5 million new users between Thursday and Sunday last week- 43 times more than it gained for the entire previous week.

Picture: iStock

Further seemingly affirming concerns for South Africans is the Department of Justice’s Information Regulator, which on Wednesday announced it was perusing the new data sharing terms to see if they complied with the Protection of Private Information Act (POPIA).

Much ado about nothing?

Data Protection law expert Louella Tindale did not make the switch, she said, because upon reading the terms, she couldn’t find anything that was out of the ordinary in respect of data sharing between affiliated companies.

Furthermore she didn’tt want to share her information with yet more companies in a bid to protect her personal information from another. Tindale advised the information sharing around contacts and location are both aspects which can be controlled by adjusting your settings. “Your WhatsApp messages are encrypted end-to-end so they don’t have access to the content of your messages,” said Tindale.

For the protection of personal information online, Tindale said it was important to take responsibility for everything shared online, either on social media platforms or messaging apps. WhatsApp and other services may be end-to-end encrypted but screen-grabs were a vulnerability for everyone.

DA MP and digital privacy activist Phumzile van Damme made the switch, and told The Citizen her action and decision to send out a broadcast message alerting her followers of this was to take a stand against the ever dwindling boundaries between data mining companies and digital service users.

Even though the widespread access to personal information is ubiquitous in modern life, she believes users need to take the initiative en masse to demand better protection of their information.

“I am merely saying I am taking a stand to say no thank you to yet another service provider collecting my personal data,” said Van Damme.

“ I have seen the global response on this issue and I think the reason why the migration is happening is if you consider the market, that is people using internet services, there is a push for an assurance that says to tech giants, we will use your services if you protect our data. So the market is moving towards companies that are offering this protection, so if someone says they are willing to do that people will move.”

Picture: iStock

Could SA’s privacy legislation protect you?

Digital law expert Emma Sadlier said POPIA allowed for companies whose actions did not comply with it to be fined, but this would take another year to come into effect, because when President Cyril Ramaphosa gave those powers to the Information Regulator in July last year, he gave companies 12 months to comply with the act.

Spokesperson for the Information Regulator Nomzamo Zondi said the body could not ban WhatsApp or its mother company Facebook. It only had the powers to fine companies found not to comply with POPIA.

“The hope is to resolve the matter amicably, and to not have to approach a court in order to ensure compliance with (POPIA).”

So, what are your option really, if you want to disappear?

Cyber security expert and Director of Cyber Bunker Security Brandon Maythan suggested if people were concerned about their information leaking, it is probably best to limit what information you share with service providers in the first place .

Picture: iStock

After all, modern mobile devices are virtually inoperable without some form of invasive data mining from the companies which operate mobile services. It would be useless to simply delete WhatsApp while several other Google-linked services have access to the same information.

Read More: Telegram vs Signal: What are the pros and cons?

“It’s not that everyone should disappear without a trace. The point is not necessarily  to disappear, it is about getting to the point where you are able to choose what you share with them. I think that the bigger issue with these companies is that you are not in control of what you are giving them.”

Digital safety starts with the basics, Maytham said.

• “Have a computer generated password, because if you create a password formula where you simply change one digit or character when you’re changing it, computers that make those attacks can identify every variation of that in minutes.”
• Ensuring two-factor authorisation for all online accounts is also as important.

“Typically the system would ask for something you know and something you have, like your password is something you know and something you have would be like your own code or hardware security key. Make sure your email service has end-to-end encryption.”

• Settings on most mobile devices allowed for users to turn off access to certain information, such as location and contacts. When using a browser such as Google chrome, he suggested clearing browsing cache and cookies regularly to stop companies from retrieving information contained in these. These options are available on browser settings menus.

Simnikiweh@citizen.co.za

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