evidence: Having said that, WhatsApp isn’t perfect — it records a fair amount of information about you outside of the chat interface. The data collected includes your contact list, location, device identifiers, and transaction history, among others. However, Signal is the only alternative that claims to collect less data and emphasizes security with independent security audits. Other popular chat applications like Messenger and Telegram don’t even offer end-to-end encryption by default. [...] - The platform does not collect or store your contact list. However, it does keep a record once it detects a contact already has a WhatsApp account. [...] Your WhatsApp chats stay encrypted and confidential at all times. However, there are still some potential security pitfalls that you should be aware of. While your chats won’t ever get intercepted on their way to you, they’re pretty exposed once they reach their destination. In other words, your phone and any recipient’s device are far easier targets for potential attacks.