WhatsApp vs Signal: what's the safer option?

With messaging service WhatsApp announcing that it'll be sharing user data with Facebook from February 8 which users cannot opt out of, many have chosen to switch to the app Signal. If you're trying to decide whether this is the app that's best for you, here's a quick and simple breakdown of the differences between the two.

While both offer end-to-end encryption for messages, WhatsApp collects user data that it then uses to provide 'Services' and target ads at customers. Parent company Facebook has a rocky track record when it comes to the protection of user data, with the Cambridge-Analytica scandal being an important highlight. Even WhatsApp has been in the news recently for being vulnerable to hacking on some devices via Pegasus spyware.

When it comes to outright user data, WhatsApp collects information like device ID, user ID, advertising data, purchase history, and much more. With the WhatsApp Pay digital transaction service rolling out soon, the firm will have access to things like a user's payment information and product interaction data.

With sharing of data between WhatsApp and parent-company Facebook becoming a reality soon, let's take a look at all the data Facebook's home-grown Messenger service collects.

On the other hand, let's take a look at all the data that Signal collects from its users.

In comparison to WhatsApp, the only personal user data Signal collects is a user's mobile phone number, that it doesn't send to anyone unless a user themselves sends a message or makes a call to another user.

Signal is also the industry standard for the encrypted messaging protocol that's used by the app and others, including WhatsApp, so all the latest security features come to Signal first. It's also open-source, which means the source code used to develop the app is published for third-party developers to be able to examine. This in turn makes it less likely to have hidden vulnerabilities, whereas WhatsApp's closed-source code means that there's potential targets that remain unknown until they've been exploited.

To sum up, Signal is definitely a far safer option than WhatsApp when it comes to secure messaging and the protection of user data, and is available for all leading platforms, including Android and iOS.