Facebook backed messaging platform WhatsApp’s ‘take it, or leave it’ privacy policy and terms of services has sparked a discussion about user data and how it is being managed by global communications apps. Several users have now fled to alternate solutions like Signal and Telegram.

In fact, according to data analytics firm Sensor Tower, Telegram’s downloads are up by 11 percent and Signal’s downloads are up by 14 percent week on week. The firm also pointed out that WhatsApp downloads fell 11 percent in the first week of January as compared to the prior week.

Acknowledging this new-found traffic and taking a dig at the social media giant, Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram in a blog said, “I hear Facebook has an entire department devoted to figuring out why Telegram is so popular. Imagine dozens of employees working on just that full-time.” He further added, “I am happy to save Facebook tens of millions of dollars and give away our secret for free: respect your users.”

Meanwhile, Signal's popularity shot up after Tesla Inc's CEO and now the richest man on earth Elon Musk endorsed the application on Twitter. The private messenger on January 9th acknowledged the love it is getting the from India market, as the app topped the charts in the region --

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