Whats Up With WhatsApp?
My Thought Process On Whether To Agree Or Not, Looking Through Competition Lenses
Last week I received WhatsApp’s updated privacy terms.
I understand that the two billion WhatsApp users across 180 countries did too.
The fine print is here.
I recall a previous notification, but that gave me the choice to opt out of the information sharing in question and still retain my account.
This one did not.
I am receiving messages from my friends asking me if I am making the switch.
Many of them have already switched.
Signal and Telegram are the suggested alternatives.
They don’t want to be cut off from me and I from them.
I will go, or stay, where my contacts are.
Given this dilemma, should I switch?
Are these really material changes to the privacy policy?
Should I multi-home for a while, to see what everyone else is doing?
The public information to better inform my choice is slim.
Maybe in the course of January I will find out more.
But then, I am passionate about competition.
And this has everything to do with competition.
I want to think about my decision through a competition lens as well.
The sharing of my WhatsApp data with Facebook parent companies appears to be one of the big changes.
I recall that this has a few years of history, from the merger between Facebook and WhatsApp.
I wrote about this here.
The merging parties were, in 2017, fined 110 million Euros by the European Union, for misleading regulators during the 2014 merger.
This ‘misleading’ was about Facebook and WhatsApp being able (prior to the merger) and then planning to now combine their data.
In other words, use WhatsApp data to help grow Facebook and vice versa.
They had stated in the 2014 merger review that this was not technically possible.
The fine was so big because interoperability changed the assessment of the merger.
One would have had to think a lot more about network effects and consequent barriers to entry that the merger might have brought.
This context is good to know.
But doesn’t really help me with my current decision.
The recent case involving Facebook in Germany might however help.
I wrote about this here.
This case found a lack of choice as an abuse of dominance (in that case, Facebook’s dominance in social media).
The lack of choice was that those who sign up to Facebook could not choose whether their data was combined with that from Instagram and WhatsApp.
They also could not choose if it was combined with their activity on third party pages (with embedded Facebook features).
The remedy was that there should not be data sharing between the platforms and sites, unless a user voluntarily agrees to this.
There were huge efficiencies that came from all this data processing.
All of the sharing was in the interest of improving services.
These benefits would not be taken away.
They simply had to be agreed to by users.
Choice had to exist.
It was novel that that German issue was determined as a competition-related one, and not not a consumer or privacy law matter.
Why?
Because the lack of choice on that platform supported a lack of choice in the market in general.
The lack of choice encouraged further data collection and processing by this (large) entity.
This could further entrench their position in the market.
So it is about network effects.
These create business models I would invest in.
Fantastic business models.
But they cannot be derived through unfair means.
Like a lack of choice about what happens to user’s data.
Back to my WhatsApp decision.
This is about the sharing of WhatsApp data with Facebook parent companies.
It seems to be a similar topic.
But in reverse.
The German case reminds me that my choice has a lot to do with competition.
Something that I want to support.
I am reminded that this is about network effects in the same business.
And in related businesses — WhatsApp helping other Facebook companies to grow thanks to my WhatsApp data.
I am also reminded that WhatsApp is growing into new markets.
Like payments.
I wrote about this here.
Again these network effects — in all directions — make fantastic business models.
I will surely work toward such a model when I start a business.
But it has to be gained on the merit.
Choice about data sharing is probably a start I would have to offer to customers.
Maybe I would still be able to grow such a business in all the ways desired without needing to force data sharing.
Maybe I would still ask people what they prefer.
And listen.
For now…
I have accepted the privacy agreement but have already switched with my main contacts over to Signal.
It is going well with Signal.
I will see if more information comes out through the course of January to better inform my decision.
I really don’t feel happy about being told what to do.
To share my data.
Or end my service.
But then again…
It is convenient to stick with WhatsApp.
I like getting messages.
And all my friends are there.
And I am probably already sharing so much data in other places…
*No conflicts, all written in my personal capacity.
