WhatsApp flap shows importance of message platform to Facebook

The California giant last month delayed implementation of a new policy which critics said could expand data collection from some two billion WhatsApp users around the world. — Bloomberg

WASHINGTON: 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.