James Thinks
writing is a kind of thinking
In recent years I've become increasingly concerned about the malign influence of big tech.
Meta, who own Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are an influential technology company. Their business model depends on gathering user data and selling targeted advertising. This has a number of problematic effects including the creation of an attention economy, enshittification of products and manipulation of democratic processes. These large quantities of user data are also ripe for misuse by authoritarian governments that Meta and others appear to be keen to appease. Back in January Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a change to the way fact checking would happen on their platforms which many people interpreted as a backwards step made for political reasons.
More recently WhatsApp has added AI features and while they can be turned off, there's a lack of transparency about how data are used and questions about the security of the app as a whole. Most of WhatsApp's source code is not open source, so security researchers cannot assess it.
I use chat apps to share and connect with people who are very important to me. I don't want those relationships mediated by the kind of organisation I've just described.
As a result, I'm looking to opt out of toxic media and apps. I deleted my Google account a few months back and WhatsApp is next on the list.
But everyone uses it
Yes, like a lot of dodgy technology this network effect is the main thing it has going for it.
What are you using instead?
Thankfully, there are many excellent alternatives to WhatsApp, many of which my friends and family already use. I've tried to pick a few that I hope will not enshittify.
- SMS/Text message: It's quick, convenient and every mobile phone already has it. Messages are not encrypted, so a network operator could easily read them.
- Email: Again, almost everyone already has an email address and all my friends and family already know mine. Not usually end-to-end encrypted unless the other person is also using ProtonMail.
- Signal: With a user-interface very similar to WhatsApp, Signal is an end-to-end encrypted open source chat and video call app which is widely-trusted as a secure alternative. Many of my friends and family are already using it. It's free, but regular users might consider donating.
- Element/Matrix: A decentralised chat application with end-to-end encryption, supporting chat, voice, and video calls. I've recently started using this, so can't yet comment on how practical it is.
Is this forever?
I'm not sure. At this stage I'm not ruling out reinstalling WhatsApp if I find it necessary, but I'd like to make this change work if possible.
James Bradbury
I write about whatever is on my mind. I do so mostly to help me think more clearly. If other people find it interesting that's good too. :-)
Meta's business model depends on havesting user data and selling targetted advertising
I don't want those relationships mediated by the kind of organisation I've just described