How much do you actually know about data encryption and privacy? Do you feel like your personal data is safe and secure on your mobile device or do you feel like everyone’s spying on you? In the midst of the recent Facebook data breach and WhatsApp’s updated Terms of Use, there have been many discussions about whether anything you say, write or send via WhatsApp is actually secure.
Facebook claims that your data is completely safe and that they have no insight into anything you might send or receive and that their end-to-end encryption is keeping all of the information safe and secure. However, people aren’t really buying it. If you take your time to read the updated Terms of Use, you can see why that is. We won’t go too much into details but it’s basically something along the lines of “if we wanted to take a peek – we could”.
All of this has lead people to seek alternatives. Now, people who are used to using WhatsApp aren’t really keen on switching to Viber or Telegram or any other instant messaging app. They want to keep using the same exact app they used so far. So, what’s the alternative? It’s something called WhatsApp Mod.
What’s WhatsApp Mod?
To put it simply, “mod” is short for modified, which would make a WhatsApp Mod a modified version of the regular app. If we’re being honest, that alone means absolutely nothing unless you know what exactly has been modified or altered, but we’ll get to that in just a second. Another thing to remember is that there are no “official” WhatsApp mods.
There is only one version of the app and all the modified ones are being re-designed by third-party developers using the official app’s framework.
Why Would You Use A Third-Party Mod?
One of the main questions we need to answer is why would anyone switch to a mod instead of an official app? Well, the reasons are various. The first thing that comes to mind is privacy. Privacy concerns (with the main app) are one of the main reasons for the recent surge in popularity of these third-party mods, but as we’re about to see in just a minute, this probably shouldn’t be your number one reason for switching.
On the other hand, extra features that come with these third-party mods could be a fairly compelling reason for anyone to make a switch. The official app is fairly limited in its options. You can’t send or receive large attachments, you can’t bulk send more than 10 items, you can’t download status videos, etc. To be fair, simplicity is probably one of the main reasons the official app is so beloved and is working so well. However, some people need the extra features, and the only way to get them is to look for a mod.
What Features Can You Expect From These Mods?
If you’re in the market for one of these mods, it would be good to know just how much of an “upgrade” you’d be getting, at least when it comes to features. According to whatsapp-gb.blog.br, most of these mods share the same set of bonus features, such as:
- The ability to hide your last seen or online status
- The ability to enable or disable the blue ticks
- Anti-Ban feature
- With the increased file size you can send or receive
- Increased number of Group participants
- Increased number of files you can share with a single message
- Scheduling messages
- Themes and customizations
- Additional emojis, stickers and GIFs
As you can see, some of these sound really intriguing, so it should come as no surprise that people are flocking to these third-party mods.
Are These Mods Safe?
Well, as you might’ve guessed, the answer is not that simple. To say whether these apps are safe or not, we have to look at the bigger picture.
First up, let’s look at it from the legal perspective. All of these apps are kind of “stolen” property. WhatsApp is not an open-source coded app, meaning not everyone has the right to alter the code or make changes to it as they please and in the eyes of the law, that’s exactly what these third-party developers are doing. If we’re being honest, that’s exactly what they’re doing, regardless of how you look at it. With all that being said, legally, Facebook, WhatsApp’s mother company, can take any legal action against both the mod developers and its users. So, from a legal standpoint, using a mod isn’t safe.
Now, let’s talk about privacy. The original app is based on end-to-end encryption for both messaging and voice-calling, meaning, it would take some serious hacking skills for anyone (outside of Facebook) to listen in on your calls and messages. On the other hand, third party mods don’t rely on any encryption system whatsoever, meaning, it would be pretty easy for someone with decent hacking skills to hop in and steal all of your data. So, not-so-safe, once again…
Finally, considering that these apps are “frowned upon” by the original creators, you could get banned from ever again using WhatsApp, hence the “Anti-Ban features” with most of the top apps.
What Does It All Mean?
Now, we have to wonder – what does this all mean? Should you risk leaking your personal information just for some extra features? Well, that’s entirely up to you
However, we can tell you this. If privacy is what concerns you, you’re probably better off staying with the official app. You’ve used it long enough for them to have already collected all of your data if they wanted to do that, so, there’s really no point in leaving now. Also, as we’ve learned, with these mods, you’re giving up end-to-end encryption, so that’s going to pose additional security and privacy concerns.
To be fair, so far, there were no reports of any data being compromised amongst mod users and if we’re being honest, we’re not surprised. It might sound harsh, but, nobody cares about your personal information. Unless you’re texting your bank account info to your friends, which we assume you don’t, for various reasons – you have nothing to worry about. All of your data is already online and if someone wanted to hack you and steal all of it – they would’ve done it regardless of the instant messaging app you’re using.
How Do You Know Your App Is Safe?
Well, you can’t. Unless you’re a developer that can read a code and look for suspicious lines – there’s no way you can know whether the app is safe or not. The best advice we could give you is to choose wisely and opt-out for some of the most popular mods, as they’ve been proved to be as safe as they possibly can be.
Conclusion
So, are these mods safe? It depends. If we’re comparing them to the original app, then no, they’re not safe. On the other hand, if you’re aware of the security “holes” and you’re just using the app to chat with your friends, share memes and schedule coffee dates then you have nothing to worry about
