Over this week, concerns over data privacy issues with Facebook’s messaging app, WhatsApp continue to grow as more people make the switch to the end-to-end encryption messaging app, Signal.
“Signal vs WhatsApp: A look at five privacy features” MSN – February 8, 2021
- A comparison of the two apps’ privacy features helps to show the difference between the different security elements within the apps.
- Signal: Screen Security, Incognito Keyboard, Screen Lock, Read Receipts, and Group Invitation Privacy
- WhatsApp: Fingerprint Lock, Group Invitation System, Profile Privacy, Last Seen privacy, and Status Privacy
Efforts to increase data privacy laws and practice take the spotlight this week as Virginia plans to adopt a privacy law similar to CDPA and the EU cracks down on ad targeting by proposing a ban on tracking internet users for advertising purposes.
“EU’s top privacy regulator urges ban on surveillance-based ad targeting,” TechCrunch, February 11, 2021
- To help increase operators accountability, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) placed a ban on surveillance-based targeted ads
“Virginia is about to get a major California-style data privacy law,” arsTECHNICA, February 8, 2021
- Virginia will be the second state in the U.S. to adopt its own CDPA similar to California’s however there will be different levels of protection based on whether or not you are surfing the internet from home or at work