WhatsApp assures consumers of privacy on platform

Facebook-owned popular messaging app, WhatsApp has announced that it will be going ahead with its much-debated privacy policy update while assuring consumers of protection.

The company said it will allow its users to read about the update ‘at their own pace’ and will also add a new banner feature for its users to get additional information.

In a statement, the company said the app would remind people to review and accept these updates to continue using WhatsApp.

“In the coming weeks, we’ll display a banner in WhatsApp providing more information that people can read at their own pace. We’ve also included more information to try and address concerns we’re hearing. Eventually, we’ll start reminding people to review and accept these updates to keep using WhatsApp.

“We’ve reflected on what we could have done better here. We want everyone to know our history of defending end-to-end encryption and trust we’re committed to protecting people’s privacy and security. We’re now using our Status feature to share our values and updates directly within WhatsApp. We’ll be doing much more to make our voice clear going forward.”

The messaging app hinted that every day millions of people start a WhatsApp chat with a business because it’s easier to do so than placing a phone call or exchanging emails.

“We charge businesses to provide customer service on WhatsApp – not people. Some shopping features involve Facebook so that businesses can manage their inventory across apps. We display more information directly on WhatsApp so people can choose if they want to engage with businesses, or not.

The company noted some users have looked for an alternate mode of messaging. Commenting on its competitors, the company said, “We’ve seen some of our competitors try to get away with claiming they can’t see people’s messages – if an app doesn’t offer end-to-end encryption by default that means they can read your messages.

“Other apps say they’re better because they know even less information than WhatsApp. We believe people are looking for apps to be both reliable and safe, even if that requires WhatsApp having some limited data. We strive to be thoughtful on the decisions we make and we’ll continue to develop new ways of meeting these responsibilities with less information, not more.”

During the controversy, messaging apps such as Telegram and Signal saw a significant rise in their download numbers as they were considered more secure. At one point, Signal saw a 4,200 per cent rise in download numbers.