WhatsApp has begun posting “commitment to your privacy” status messages to users.
According to WhatsApp, “there has been a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding and we want to help everyone understand the truth behind how WhatsApp protects the privacy and protection of users,” a WhatsApp spokesman said in Going forward, we will send notifications to individuals in the Status tab so that individuals directly hear from WhatsApp. Our first update reaffirms that your personal messages can not be seen by WhatsApp, and neither can Facebook, since end-to-end encryption protects them.”
The messages are part of WhatsApp’s broader initiative to dispel misperceptions regarding an imminent update to its privacy policy.
The update is intended to clarify how companies who use WhatsApp for customer support on Facebook’s servers can store logs of their chats. In November, WhatsApp previewed the updates to company chats. However, considering Facebook’s history of privacy blunders, users misinterpreted the privacy policy updates to imply that WhatsApp will enable Facebook to share sensitive profile details.
The update does not alter the data sharing practices of WhatsApp with Facebook and does not affect how individuals connect.