Blog post written by Steve Vlok, Co-Founder and CEO at Celo

As WhatsApp’s recent privacy policy announcement makes waves around the world, many WhatsApp users are frantically searching for an alternative.

What is WhatsApp’s new Privacy Policy update? 🤔🤔🤔

Here’s what you need to know:

⛔️ It’s mandatory. Non-acceptance means you can’t use WhatsApp in the future.
⛔️ Your private data is shared with the parent company, Facebook.
⛔️ Your information may be used for advertising purposes in the future.

Previously WhatsApp users could opt-out of sharing data with Facebook, but to continue using the app, users must agree to the new data sharing policy changes by the 8th of February, 2021. WhatsApp goes on to state that contacts, live status, active times, and phone numbers can also be shared with Facebook.

This news has understandably created concern amongst healthcare professionals who use consumer messaging applications, such as WhatsApp, as an integral part of their day-to-day communication.

There are many messaging applications available, and it can be hard to navigate the specifics of each one to make an informed decision about which is best to use in the healthcare setting.

Signal? Telegram? Help!!!

While many consumers have started making the shift to the likes of secure messaging apps Signal or Telegram (I mean who wouldn’t if our friend Elon Musk endorses it right!? 😅😅😅), healthcare professionals need to consider the implications of shifting to just another consumer messaging tool instead of a purpose-built healthcare platform.

Figure 1: Comparing WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram and Celo for use in healthcare.

Why Celo?

Designed by healthcare professionals for healthcare professionals, Celo is a healthcare accredited messaging and collaboration platform that:

🚀 Supports easy to use, powerful, encrypted, and instant secure messaging.
📷 Allows you to keep patient information including clinical photos separate from your personal life and phone gallery.
👩‍⚕️Provides a Verified Healthcare Network - Celo verifies the identity, profession and workplace of our users - so you know who you are talking to (this is especially important when decisions about patient management are being made)
✅ Is free for healthcare professionals to use
🔐 Meets global requirements for healthcare data protection - more info on Celo’s healthcare accreditation and data security can be found here.

🏥🏥🏥 Learn more about Celo’s healthcare-specific features.

👉👉👉 Sign up for free at www.celohealth.com or visit the App Store or Google Play.