[uph]

> 1) Again I'm not talking about verification of whoever is on the other side of the conversation, its about hijacking the account (whether by breaking into the Tel-Co system or having access to it using a court order).

What do you imagine happens when someone hijacks "the account"? They don't get access to your past conversations, they don't get access to your contacts. All that happens is that they can impersonate you, which your friends will notice when they are notified that the key changed.

> If you are using this app, you are forced to give up a copy of all you contacts and also the app is scanning for new contacts several times every hour!

I'm pretty sure it asks you and you have to give it permission. And again, most people WANT to find their contacts. What's the point of having a messenger and no one to send your messages to?

> If this was an opt in option

It is opt-in, no one is forcing you to use WhatsApp. It's not like people don't know that they will be able to contact their friends through WhatsApp and are shocked and dismayed when they find out that's the case. You do realize not every app in existence has to follow your requirements right? You're free to use something that does, but the reason the majority use WhatsApp is that it doesn't. That's not a bug, it's a design choice that you happen to disagree with.