Botim: Safe to Use?

Here’s everything about Botim being safe to use:

Most tech experts would likely agree that Botim is a relatively safe app to use.

VOIP calling is not inherently dangerous, and Botim treats safety and privacy much the same as any other major tech company.

While user data is recorded, it is largely anonymized, so there are minimal concerns of personal fallout.

So if you want to learn all about Botim’s safety, then this article is for you.

Keep reading!

Botim: Safe to Use? (Especially Video Calls)

What Is Botim?

Chances are that you are familiar with Botim if you’re looking for answers to this question.

But, a lot of people don’t have a clear idea of the company and how it works.

Primarily, Botim is a VOIP application. It allows users to make internet-based calls.

You can do audio or video calls over the system, and in either case, Botim is providing real-time communication for its users.

Botim also has social media elements.

You can provide a status and find users on the app. That makes it a little different from some direct-call services.

One thing of note is that Botim is particularly popular in the Middle East and South Asia. These are regions where a lot of other popular VOIP apps are not as available.

Botim has risen to fill that void, and a lot of people enjoy using it on a daily basis.

Why Safety Concerns Are Attached to Botim? (4 Issues)

Botim is a major service.

They deal with communication in ways similar to any other VOIP app.

That said, there are safety concerns associated with any internet activity, and VOIP calling adds a few specific interests to that list.

Before you use Botim, you want to be sure that it is safe and legal.

Is it tracking you or selling your data?

How likely are you to be hacked?

These are big questions, so let’s go over them one at a time.

#1 Legality

The first question many people have in regard to Botim is whether or not it is a legal service in all of the countries where it is used.

The short answer is yes.

Botim is popular in Middle Eastern and South Asian countries in large part because the company works hard to comply with regulations in those regions.

Where other communication apps might be banned, Botim has secured legal backing, so it provides services that will not get users in trouble.

All of that comes with a caveat.

Botim only provides services where it is legally permitted, but savvy users can get around Botim restrictions and use the app when and where it might not be permitted.

This kind of behavior happens in plenty of cases around the world.

Users can use VPNs and other resources to trick a server and gain access to something that they are not legally permitted to access.

So, as long as you aren’t taking an effort to trick Botim’s systems, then you will only be able to use it when it is legally permitted. In this way, it’s quite safe.

#2 Tracking

Botim involves the transmission of a lot of information.

In order to have voice or video calls with another person, you have to send sound and image data across the internet.

If you’re using Botim, that information passes through Botim servers.

Additionally, Botim needs to know your contact information in order to connect you with another user.

Botim requires users to make accounts so that more information is stored on those servers.

There’s also the fear that your conversations might be recorded.

These are well-founded concerns.

We’ll get into some more specific details later, but this is a good place to start.

When it comes to server security and tracking user information, Botim is operating comparably to any other communication app or company.

Information is tracked, but by all available accounts, it is not regularly available in any public way.

Generally speaking, the information you give to Botim is safe (more specific interactions will be covered).

#3 Dissemination

It’s nice that Botim isn’t making all of your data public, but that doesn’t fully address concerns.

A lot of tech companies that collect information have been known to sell that information.

There is also the concern of whether or not Botim data is available to any government.

If you use the site, can a third party get data off of Botim servers without having to resort to hacking?

The answer to this is a mixed bag.

Governments can make formal information requests.

Depending on the nature of the request, Botim just might comply.

So, some governments, in some circumstances, can see your data.

That said, Botim does not provide direct channels for this. It is done case by case, so generally speaking, Botim is not disseminating your personal information to third parties, as long as you understand that some exceptions do exist.

#4 Hacking

What about people stealing information from Botim?

Are the servers secure?

Can people hack into your calls?

Again, these are reasonable concerns.

Botim isn’t particularly vulnerable in any reported way.

So, if you scan the internet for general assessments of Botim security, it seems to live up to modern standards.

As for hacking a call, that’s difficult to do in general.

Unless someone has hacked your personal device (or that of the person you are calling), live hacks like that are not likely.

A hacker would have to know that you are on a call in the first place.

Beyond that, the communication between you and other users is encrypted, so live hacking a call is extremely difficult.

On the other side of things, you might wonder about Botim servers being hacked.

The simple truth is that no server is ever perfectly safe.

That said, Botim servers are as safe in this regard as any other major communication service provider.

How Does Botim Address Concerns? (3 Things)

We’ve looked at primary concerns, and there are some answers to those concerns above.

But, we can take a deeper look and see more specifically how Botim operates and deals with reasonable safety concerns.

In particular, we can look at how Botim records data, what tracking the company implements and who is eligible to see that data.

When you understand these components, you can decide for yourself how safe Botim is or isn’t.

#1 Recording

Let’s simplify this.

Does Botim record calls?

By default, no.

Botim is not automatically recording every call that you make.

There is not a massive directory of phone calls stored on Botim servers that could potentially be hacked.

It’s just not how the business is run.

That said, calls can be recorded.

You or the other user can record any call, and it’s not entirely difficult.

So, there is a risk of your calls being recorded, but that risk doesn’t come directly from Botim.

On a different note, you might wonder about other things that Botim can record.

Does the app record statuses or written messages?

In short, yes.

These types of things have to go through the Botim servers.

These are social media-like aspects of the app, and they only work if Botim records them.

So, some things related to your behavior on the app are recorded and stored on the servers.

That data is subject to everything covered above, but it’s important to know that Botim does in fact record some things about its users.

#2 Tracking

What about tracking and user behavior?

Ultimately, Botim is a big tech company.

They track a lot of things.

This includes information you use to communicate on the app.

It can file phone numbers, account information, your name, and more.

That said, there are things that Botim goes out of its way to avoid tracking.

The first is addresses and email addresses.

You don’t have to provide either to use Botim.

Instead, you only have to provide a phone number, and that information is already in directories.

Phone numbers don’t work unless they are part of directories, so you’re not really giving up much when you give Botim your number.

As mentioned before, status updates and things you type into Botim are also tracked.

But, and this is a big one, Botim anonymizes data that is stored on its servers.

So, even though behavior is tracked, it’s not married to your name or number.

It’s just nameless, faceless statistics in the big data machine.

#3 Dissemination

This was half-covered before but from an overhead perspective.

Botim has a user agreement, and if you read through it, you’ll gain insight into how the company interacts with your own personal data.

Here’s what the user agreement reveals.

First, Botim reserves the right to publish any info or data that you give to them.

So, if you make a status, that status is published.

It’s publicly viewable.

Second, Botim states that the company might share information and usage statistics with other bodies.

Other companies or even governments might get to see the data that you generate.

All of that said, this data is anonymized, as mentioned before.

Aside from data that absolutely has to be paired to use (such as your status update), the data you generate using the app is always anonymized.

If Botim shares statistics with other bodies, your specific information is not discernable.

In that way, Botim is playing par for the course if you compare it to any other major tech company.

Author

Theresa McDonough

Tech entrepreneur and founder of Tech Medic, who has become a prominent advocate for the Right to Repair movement. She has testified before the US Federal Trade Commission and been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, helping influence change within the tech industry.

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