The new privacy policy announced by WhatsApp seems to have triggered a flight to Telegram, which collects 25 million new users in 3 days
Telegram becomes the refuge of users fleeing from WhatsApp and its new privacy policy. In just 3 days it has recorded a surge of 25 million new users, thus surpassing 500 million active users worldwide and thanked the choice with a welcome message for all.
Always an eternal rival of WhatsApp, this time just the Facebook app seems to have pushed many users to download Telegram. The reason is in the new privacy policy that from next February 8 will share more user data with Facebook, an update of the terms of service that not everyone liked. WhatsApp’s new way of sharing data, however, will not affect citizens of the European Union, whose privacy is protected by the GDPR in force. Although European users are not affected, many have still downloaded Telegram, choosing it as a replacement for the chat owned by Mark Zuckerberg.
Telegram recovers 25 million users in 3 days
In just 72 hours Telegram has registered another 25 million users. This is the goal also celebrated by Pavel Durov, its founder, who is careful not to mention WhatsApp or link its new success to the flight of users from Mark Zuckerberg’s rival app.
Behind the great flight from WhatsApp, needless to deny it, there are fears for the new privacy policy that will come into force from next February 8, which provides new conditions and ways of sharing user data with Facebook, the social network that bought the messaging app several years ago.
That’s why Telegram, according to its founder, has become the “greatest refuge” for all those users who are looking for a communication platform that is private and secure, and that doesn’t ask for sensitive data or threaten their privacy in return. One of the features that have made Telegram famous, in fact, is the founders’ refusal to cooperate with any authority and to hand over the encryption keys of messages, so much so that it is frowned upon by some governments.
Telegram, the message to its users
Telegram users these days are receiving a message celebrating the new record of 500 million active users and offering insights into all the features that the app provides them. For those who use the chat, in the Telegram channel that sends Service Notifications, you will be able to read this message: “Telegram has surpassed 500 million active users. In the last 72 hours alone, more than 25 million new users from around the world have joined Telegram. Thank you! These milestones became possible because of users like you who invited their friends on Telegram. If you have contacts who have joined in the last few days, you can welcome them using one of Telegram’s unique features, such as animated stickers or video messages. To find out more about Telegram’s features, check out https://t.me/TelegramTips”.
The migration from WhatsApp to Telegram continues, and it’s not just affecting users from outside Europe. Although in Europe the presence of GDPR cancels the effects of the new privacy policy, more and more people prefer Durov’s chat to Zuckerberg’s, and the new numbers recorded in these days are the proof.