WhatsApp privacy policy flap shows importance of message platform to Facebook

When WhatsApp users began to raise concerns about a new privacy policy being rolled out, members of a Washington pickup soccer group decided to switch their communications to rival messaging platform Signal, ditching the Facebook-owned service.

The shift was “about moving as many users away from the Facebook empire, which for my liking has become way too big and powerful,” said Bernhard Fleck, one of the players.

The flap over WhatsApp’s privacy policy — described by Facebook as a misunderstanding about efforts to bring businesses onto the platform — threatens to erode trust in the service which is increasingly important to the leading social network’s future.