WhatsApp desperately wants you to know that it's committed to your privacy

(Image credit: Allie Zru)

Ever since WhatsApp updated its privacy policy to allow certain information to be shared with parent visitor Facebook, the messaging app has been facing a PR backlash, with many users fleeing to what they view as more private chat apps.

At present WhatsApp is fighting dorsum, with messages being sent directly to its ain users via the app'south Condition system — temporary letters akin to Snapchat's Stories and Twitter'due south Fleets.

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"Ane thing that isn't new is our commitment to your privacy," 1 message reads. "WhatsApp can't read or listen to your personal conversations as they're cease-to-end encrypted," another adds.

"There's been a lot of misinformation and defoliation around our contempo update and we want to help everyone understand the facts behind how WhatsApp protects people's privacy and security," a WhatsApp spokesperson wrote in an email to The Verge. "Going forrad, nosotros're going to provide updates to people in the Status tab then people hear from WhatsApp directly."

There's a certain irony in the company using Status to counter misinformation when WhatsApp itself has in the past been pinpointed equally a stiff spreader of conspiracy theories and faux news. But whether users have been misinformed or non, rival apps have certainly taken advantage of the furor. Both Signal and Telegram have reportedly had membership surges, and the latter intends to capitalize on this by making it easy for WhatsApp exiles to import their old chats over to its platform.

Equally well as using Status messages to circulate its defense, WhatsApp has set up an FAQ page about the proposed changes, which take already been pushed back from February to May. "Nosotros desire to be clear that the policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family in any style," the page explains.

"The changes are related to optional business features on WhatsApp, and provides farther transparency nearly how we collect and use data."

Not everyone is convinced by parent company Facebook's commitment to privacy — and that includes the app'south co founder, Brian Acton, who left Facebook in 2017, three years afterwards selling his company for $16 billion. At present a part of the Bespeak Foundation, Acton has been pretty clear on his views on the app's direction since parting: "I sold my users' privacy to a larger do good," he told Forbes back in 2018. "I made a choice and a compromise, and I live with that every day."

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing virtually tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When non weighing upward the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably detect him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.