Messaging platform WhatsApp seems to have dug its own grave announcing its new privacy policy after rival apps like Signal and Telegram saw a surge in the number new users that joined their respective platforms.
As per an IANS report, Telegram, which has surpassed 500 million monthly active users (MAUs), registered 25 million (2.5 crores) new users joining the platform globally in the last 72 hours alone as users shun WhatsApp over data privacy concerns, its CEO Pavel Durov revealed.
How Telegram has risen globally
This rapid rise in the number of users has been global with 38 percent coming from Asia, 27 percent from Europe, 21 percent from Latin America and about 8 percent from the Middle East and North Africa.
“This is a significant increase compared to last year when 1.5 million new users signed up every day. We’ve had surges of downloads before, throughout our 7-year history of protecting user privacy. But this time is different,” Durov said in a blog post on Tuesday.
“People no longer want to exchange their privacy for free services. They no longer want to be held hostage by tech monopolies that seem to think they can get away with anything as long as their apps have a critical mass of users”.
Signal app also on the rise
This kind of surge has also been witnessed by another messaging app Signal. As per analytics firm Sensor Tower, Signal saw over 23 lakh new downloads between January 6 and January 10 in India, while Telegram clocked more than 16 lakh new downloads in the same period.
WhatsApp’s popularity meanwhile had dropped as its downloads fell by 35 percent over the January 6 to January 10 time-period, with 13 lakh new downloads.
It was before the announcement that WhatsApp had clocked 20 lakh new downloads between January 1 and January 5. Billions of people had used WhatsApp to connect with loved ones across the globe to wish them on new year’s as the world exercises social distancing.
According to Durov, with half a billion active users and accelerating growth, Telegram has become the largest refuge for those seeking a communication platform committed to privacy and security.
“We take this responsibility very seriously. We won’t let you down”.
