The messaging app, though, has also been criticized for not doing enough to curb the spread of misinformation that fuels violence. More than 175 million people message a business on WhatsApp daily, allowing them to browse or buy items, ranging from cakes to flights. The popular app is an online space where people go to chat, shop and share news.
WhatsApp, which Facebook bought in 2014 for $19 billion, is used by more than 2 billion people in over 180 countries.
In India, WhatsApp's largest market, switching to another messaging service is even tougher because of its enormous reach. Making the move isn't easy, because people naturally gravitate toward apps their friends and family use, and then stick with them. Woblick and his family are among the exodus of WhatsApp users bolting from the Facebook-owned messaging app to services like Signal that are seen as secure alternatives. He found it amusing that his grandma was the first to agree to download the app. "It wouldn't be too inconvenient to have a second messenger on your phone right?" he asked his family. So this time, he took a gentler approach. But Woblick couldn't convince his family to delete WhatsApp despite the Snowden news and the global uproar over digital privacy that followed. The 30-year-old German software developer had broached the topic after Edward Snowden leaked classified documents detailing America's mass surveillance program. When WhatsApp users started freaking out about privacy on the messaging app last month, Kevin Woblick knew it was time to encourage his family to move to another chat service: Signal.
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