That sparked global outcries and a rush of new users to competitor private messaging apps including Telegram and Signal.WhatsApp on Friday said it would delay the new policy launch to May from February, that the update was focused on allowing users to message with businesses, and that the update does not affect personal conversations, which will continue to have end-to-end encryption.
Facebook has been rolling out business tools on WhatsApp over the past year as it moves to boost revenue from higher-growth units like WhatsApp and Instagram while knitting together e-commerce infrastructure across the company.The app already shares certain categories of personal data, including the user’s phone number and IP address, with Facebook.
“We don’t keep logs of who everyone’s messaging or calling. We also can’t see your shared location and we don’t share your contacts with Facebook,” it said.WhatsApp said in October that it would start to offer in-app purchases via Facebook Shops and would offer firms who use its customer service messaging tools the ability to store those messages on Facebook servers.
WhatsApp said at the time that chats with a business using the new hosting service would not be protected by the app’s end-to-end encryption. Be smart with your money. Get the latest investing insights delivered right to your inbox three times a week, with the Globe Investor newsletter.
Thanks to WhatsApp’s new policy launch, now I know how great Signal is. Besides can’t trust WhatsApp or FB anymore. Definitely deleting both for good!