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Chrome vs WhatsApp Business

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Chrome scores 63 and WhatsApp Business 48, so Chrome is 15 points ahead.

63of 100
Chromecom.android.chrome

version 154.0.8037.126 ahead by 15

48of 100
WhatsApp Businesscom.whatsapp.w4b

version 2.26.40.73

Who is ahead on what

The longer bar is the better one on every axis; a score is the mean of its six axes. The arithmetic behind each is on the app's own card.

The six axes

Each axis is one short rule applied to both apps, with the one thing that decided its number underneath.

Security level
Chrome 40 2 security problems found.
WhatsApp Business 40 2 security problems found.
Tracking Chrome +10
Chrome 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
WhatsApp Business 90 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
Build hygiene Chrome +5
Chrome 62 The app passes 8 of 13 checks of how well it was built.
WhatsApp Business 57 The app passes 8 of 14 checks of how well it was built.
Packaging level
Chrome 100 The phone can use everything in the app.
WhatsApp Business 100 Unpacked, the base APK is 181 MB; 103 KB of it is unused files.
Access Chrome +39
Chrome 40 Asks for 6 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access.
WhatsApp Business 1 Asks for 9 of 11 kinds of permission; 2 kinds of special access. It is 9 points below the bottom of the scale, so the total loses 1.5 more.
Background Chrome +26
Chrome 34 Runs 5 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.
WhatsApp Business 8 Runs 7 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersChrome 0 · WhatsApp Business 0

The advertising, analytics and attribution SDKs recognised in each app. What only one of them carries is what sets it apart.

Only in Chrome
none
In both
none
Only in WhatsApp Business
none

Dangerous permissionsChrome 7 · WhatsApp Business 11

The permissions Android asks the user about at run time: the camera, the microphone, the location, the contacts and the like. An app may need one for what it does; asking is not the same as using.

Only in Chrome
none
In both
ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_CONTACTSREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGERECORD_AUDIOWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Only in WhatsApp Business
READ_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_PHONE_STATESEND_SMSWRITE_CONTACTS

Where this comes from

Both are the apps' public cards: what anyone may know of an app, from its newest public version - one Google Play installed, and out in the world. Each card has the score's lines and the earlier versions: Chrome, WhatsApp Business.