If you need to be on WhatsApp to chat with someone, that's fine. Other chat apps offer end-to-end encryption without Facebook's baggage: There is little that WhatsApp offers that you can't find in other secure messaging apps. In a recent update to its terms of service, WhatsApp said that 'Facebook does not use your WhatsApp account information to improve your Facebook product experiences or provide you more relevant Facebook ad experiences on Facebook.'įOLLOW on Twitter to keep up with the latest app news. (The decision of WhatsApp's founder to leave the company r eportedly over Facebook security concerns doesn't help lessen privacy worries.)

SEE: Android Security and Privacy Starter Kit Consĭoesn't contain every feature found in the mobile version: Unlike the mobile version of the WhatsApp messenger, you can't make person-to-person voice or video calls with WhatsApp desktop app.įacebook data concerns: In light of news about how Facebook has and has not protected its users' data, WhatsApp users may be justified in being concerned about how WhatsApp is protecting their account information.

You can share videos and photos, take a snap and send a photo using the WhatsApp camera, share documents, record voice messages, add stickers, and send contact information from your WhatsApp contacts list. You can have group chats with as many as 256 family members and friends and choose members as admins of the group. Individual and group chats: Chat with anyone in your contact list one-on-one.

(Curiously, while the official app name is WhatsApp Web, you don't use a WhatsApp web client or web browser to chat but the WhatsApp application for PCs.) WhatsApp also uses your mobile phone number to identify you and your contacts. Once set up, you can use either your phone or computer for chats, with everything synced between the devices. During setup, you will be prompted to use the QR scanner in WhatsApp on your phone to scan the QR code on your computer. WhatsApp for PC is tied to your mobile phone number: The Windows version of WhatsApp uses your phone to authorize your account. WhatsApp, by default, encrypts messages end to end for some other encrypted messenger apps, like Allo, you need to actively choose to chat using end-to-end encryption. Secured end-to-end communications: WhatsApp messages are secured with end-to-end encryption using Open Whisper Systems' Signal Protocol, which is also used in Signal's Private Messenger, Facebook Messenger, and Google Allo. It's free: WhatsApp Web is free to use and doesn't include ads. WhatsApp for PC lets you use the popular messenger app on your Windows PC and chat with WhatsApp-connected family and friends wherever they are.

The WhatsApp messaging app isn't just for iPhone and Android phones.

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