In the land of the Red Giant of the East, its inhabitants are well aware of the massive surveillance campaign that its government carries out, and they have long suspected that WeChat, the most popular messaging app there, actively shares their data with the authorities. After a turbulent week and adoption spikes for alternatives like Telegram, WeChat decided to update its privacy policy… and confirm that there’s nothing private about it.
WeChat is much more than an instant messenger in China. Its integrated electronic payment platform, WeChat Pay, is used practically everywhere (to such an extent that it even managed to surpass its direct rival Alipay), and it has functions very similar to a social network, with official accounts, business profiles, news services, and more. However, in recent days reports emerged that many Chinese users involved in cryptocurrency mining, trading, and exchange began abandoning WeChat as if it were the plague. The reason is simple: the software is monitored by the authorities.
The privacy policy update
Suspicions of a close collaboration between WeChat’s developer, Tencent, and the Chinese government have been floating around for a long time, but the latest update to its privacy policy basically confirms it. In the section “Period of Use of Your Personal Information”, it states that it will keep user data “for as long as necessary” to fulfill the purposes outlined in the document, but it also mentions five points under which it can “retain, preserve or disclose” personal information for an additional period. The most striking of these is the third: “To respond to a request from a government authority, a law enforcement agency, or a similar body (whether within your jurisdiction or elsewhere).”.
A positive interpretation?
Despite this change, it’s most likely that we won’t see major shifts in WeChat adoption, and it will remain above the 900 million users it currently has. In fact, I think it can be interpreted as something positive, because the doubts have been cleared up. From here on, each user has a clearer idea of what they should do.
