WhatsApp downloads in India reportedly fell by a dramatic 80% to 1.8 million between October 26 and November 3 from the previous nine-day period. At the same time, rivals such as Telegram and Signal witnessed a considerable jump in their number of users. This shift could most likely have been a result of the spyware row involving WhatsApp, but do users really need to be this alarmed? Considering all messaging platforms can be vulnerable to spyware attacks, the shift might be an overreaction.

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