Recently, WhatsApp made it mandatory for its users to allow the use of personal information by Facebook and other subsidiaries. Users who don't give consent to the new rule will lose access to WhatsApp by February 8. With this, privacy on WhatsApp has become a joke, critics are lashing out.

Organizations like Privacy International are lashing out at the development. This is what the privacy rights organization has said: "First this goes to show how much Facebook values their users' data over their users. 'Accept our data grab or get out' is pretty far from what consent should look like under laws like GDPR. Why would they want phone numbers so badly? Because they're great globally unique identifiers. Remember: first and foremost Facebook is an advertising company. Your attention is the product. Third, this is problematic for a number of users and organisations using WhatsApp for sensitive purposes, as it means your data could now be in the hands of an additional player."

With many thinking of completely opting out of using WhatsApp, alternatives like Telegram are being considered. In fact, Elon Musk has already urged WhatsApp users to switch over to Signal. Like Telegram, it too has the end-to-end encryption feature.

However, the outrage is muted in India. Barring a minuscule section, most of the WhatsApp users are likely to continue to use the app beyond February 8. "WhatsApp has become a part of our life. The end-to-end encryption feature makes it safe but if Facebook has other plans, so be it," a Facebook user said.