WhatsApp has reassured users about their privacy as people flocked to Telegram and Signal following a change in its terms and conditions.
Facebook executive Adam Mosseri who heads Instagram in a tweet said there was “a lot of misinformation” about an update to the terms of service regarding an option to use Whatsapp to message businesses.
Mosseri added that “The policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family in any way.”
Recall that WhatsApp’s new terms sparked criticism, as users outside Europe who do not accept the new conditions before February 8 will be cut off from the messaging app.
WhatsApp in a blog post said, “We can’t see your private messages or hear your calls, and neither can Facebook.
“We don’t keep logs of who everyone is messaging or calling. We can’t see your shared location and neither can Facebook.”
WhatsApp added that its location data along with message contents is encrypted end-to-end.
“We’re giving businesses the option to use secure hosting services from Facebook to manage WhatsApp chats with their customers, answer questions, and send helpful information like purchase receipts,” WhatsApp said in the post.
“Whether you communicate with a business by phone, email, or WhatsApp, it can see what you’re saying and may use that information for its own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook.”
