WhatsApp has been under the radar since the famous Facebook-owned communications and messaging app upgraded its privacy notifications for the users a while ago. That notification could not have been more confusing and alarming, as it made the users feel as if their communications are not safe and WhatsApp sends all the data and the content of their messages to Facebook. Now, people already have humongous trust issues with Facebook’s privacy policies. They trusted WhatsApp because it offers end-to-end encryption for all messages shared between people. It essentially means that whatever we talk about in our conversations, WhatsApp does not get to know, and that was one point that made WhatsApp an incredibly famous messaging service over all these years despite it being owned by Facebook.
Now, one thing is sure that the company did not handle the privacy policy upgrade very well and the users felt ‘threatened.’ Besides, some ‘misworded’ and ‘misquoted’ statements raised quite an uproar amongst people and India even went ahead suing the company.
WhatsApp tried to control the chaos and explained to its users that the privacy update was about the new features that WhatsApp is enabling for the business accounts. WhatsApp explained that content of messages between an end-user and a business account will not be end-to-end encrypted to allow incorporation of marketing strategies by the businesses, and that also includes their advertisement on Facebook.
WhatsApp also explained further that all these conversations with businesses are labeled that they all are using “hosting services from Facebook” and their chats are managed this way. So, everything is going to be transparent and users will be aware of this fact.
However, all these explanations did not satisfy people much, and many of the confused and ‘disillusioned users started running towards other messaging apps like Signal and Telegram. While Signal offers end-to-end encryption, Telegram uses a ‘layering’ method and its messages are not completely end-to-end encrypted. But the users were not concerned about that. All they wanted was to get away and prevent their data from going to Facebook, which was actually ridiculous and quite an exaggerated reaction because Facebook gets some of the data since the time it acquired WhatsApp, some 5 years ago!
Anyway, WhatsApp has now come up with another announcement to retain the customers and regain their trust. It is going to start rolling out new in-app banners and ads to make people realize that they misunderstood the company’s earlier notions, and their conversations will remain private as always. Also, the focus and stress will be on the new privacy update which will only be for the business accounts and not private conversations amongst two friends.
WhatsApp has been collecting feedback from its concerned users and plans to address them all to put their minds at ease. The company has also found that the majority of the people prefer in-app banners and ads rather than pop-up notifications that it used to display before.
The company is going to offer a deeper understanding to its users and will urge them to accept the updates to continue using WhatsApp gently, rather than enforcing them to do so.
Read next: WhatsApp for iOS beta update will get a "log out" feature for multi-device that will allow its users to unlink their device from the main WhatsApp account
Now, one thing is sure that the company did not handle the privacy policy upgrade very well and the users felt ‘threatened.’ Besides, some ‘misworded’ and ‘misquoted’ statements raised quite an uproar amongst people and India even went ahead suing the company.
WhatsApp tried to control the chaos and explained to its users that the privacy update was about the new features that WhatsApp is enabling for the business accounts. WhatsApp explained that content of messages between an end-user and a business account will not be end-to-end encrypted to allow incorporation of marketing strategies by the businesses, and that also includes their advertisement on Facebook.
WhatsApp also explained further that all these conversations with businesses are labeled that they all are using “hosting services from Facebook” and their chats are managed this way. So, everything is going to be transparent and users will be aware of this fact.
Nothing comes between you and your privacy. Messaging with a business is optional, and their chats are clearly labeled on the app. You are in control.
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) February 18, 2021
For more information, please read: https://t.co/55r1Qxv2Wi pic.twitter.com/HswXxRylHo
However, all these explanations did not satisfy people much, and many of the confused and ‘disillusioned users started running towards other messaging apps like Signal and Telegram. While Signal offers end-to-end encryption, Telegram uses a ‘layering’ method and its messages are not completely end-to-end encrypted. But the users were not concerned about that. All they wanted was to get away and prevent their data from going to Facebook, which was actually ridiculous and quite an exaggerated reaction because Facebook gets some of the data since the time it acquired WhatsApp, some 5 years ago!
Anyway, WhatsApp has now come up with another announcement to retain the customers and regain their trust. It is going to start rolling out new in-app banners and ads to make people realize that they misunderstood the company’s earlier notions, and their conversations will remain private as always. Also, the focus and stress will be on the new privacy update which will only be for the business accounts and not private conversations amongst two friends.
WhatsApp has been collecting feedback from its concerned users and plans to address them all to put their minds at ease. The company has also found that the majority of the people prefer in-app banners and ads rather than pop-up notifications that it used to display before.
The company is going to offer a deeper understanding to its users and will urge them to accept the updates to continue using WhatsApp gently, rather than enforcing them to do so.
We are doing more to explain how WhatsApp continues to protect people's privacy and I wanted to share our plans here first pic.twitter.com/ja6tqGZ3yi
— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) February 18, 2021
Read next: WhatsApp for iOS beta update will get a "log out" feature for multi-device that will allow its users to unlink their device from the main WhatsApp account
