I don’t know if any of you use WhatsApp for secure & encrypted chat or phone/video calls.
I’ve used it mostly for calls internationally, but also to some folks in the US.
TL;DR
I will stop using WhatsApp starting at the end of January this year. This is because of their new privacy policy where they will be sharing their users’ posting details with Facebook. This is likely for targeted advertising.
I will start using Signal for all national, and Telegram for all international texts, phone and video calls.
I encourage you to do the same
Details
I’ve been quite concerned about the privacy issues on Facebook for years. This is the reason I haven’t been on Facebook for over a decade.
Going forward, I’ll be using Telegram for secure, private international phone/video calls or texts, and, for all national video calls and texts, I will be using Signal. Both of these use end-to-end encryption, with privacy on all messages and even the option of having ephemeral messages (those that disappear after the recipient reads it).
Our family has already been using Signal for over a year and it works great, for both texts and video calls.
I encourage you to join either Signal or Telegram since they stop any potential eavesdropping by bad actors, whether individuals or governments. As well, they don’t use or sell your data for any purpose. They can’t since the encryption takes place on your phone and not on any central computer systems of theirs. None of your message details are retained by them. They just can’t do it because of the way the software is written and how it communicates with other users.
Also, since they are apps that run on any system, you don’t have to rely on having secure communication with only Apple or Android users. You can have it with anyone who has installed the app.
When sending messages to someone who hasn’t installed the app, you can still send and receive. The messages will simply be the standard unencrypted messages.
Lastly, if someone you know and has a contact record on your phone joins one of these services, using the phone number you have of them, you’ll get a message in your app telling you that you can now send secure messages.
I’m happy to answer any questions.