Editing WhatsApp (section)

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:WhatsApp messenger|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

===Introduction of advertising (2025)===
In June 2025, Meta announced that personalized ads would be introduced into WhatsApp world wide.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scharon |first=Harding |date=2025-06-16 |title=Ads are “rolling out gradually” to WhatsApp |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/06/ads-are-rolling-out-gradually-to-whatsapp/ |access-date=2025-06-18 |website=Ars Technica}}</ref> This directly contradicts the promises made by Facebook in 2014 after it acquired the messenger ''("[…] And you can still count on absolutely no ads interrupting your communication.")''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Facebook |url=https://blog.whatsapp.com/facebook?lang=en |access-date=2025-06-18 |website=WhatsApp Blog}}</ref> The personalized ads also make use of data from linked accounts on other meta platforms.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-16 |title=Helping You Find More Channels and Businesses on WhatsApp |url=https://about.fb.com/news/2025/06/helping-you-find-more-channels-businesses-on-whatsapp/ |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=Meta Newsroom}}</ref>

===Privacy policy update (2021)===
{{Main|WhatsApp updates privacy policy and millions of users flee the platform}}
There was a widespread backlash over an upcoming privacy policy update, relating the data-sharing procedures with Facebook. It outlined how businesses who use WhatsApp for customer service may store logs of its chats on Facebook servers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Statt |first=Nick |date=12 Jan 2021 |title=WhatsApp clarifies it’s not giving all your data to Facebook after surge in Signal and Telegram users |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/12/22226792/whatsapp-privacy-policy-response-signal-telegram-controversy-clarification |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112161057/https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/12/22226792/whatsapp-privacy-policy-response-signal-telegram-controversy-clarification |archive-date=12 Jan 2021 |access-date=6 Mar 2025 |website=The Verge}}</ref> The update received a broader concern, causing millions of users to flee the platform.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hern |first=Alex |date=24 Jan 2021 |title=WhatsApp loses millions of users after terms update |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jan/24/whatsapp-loses-millions-of-users-after-terms-update |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124165416/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jan/24/whatsapp-loses-millions-of-users-after-terms-update |archive-date=24 Jan 2021 |access-date=6 Mar 2025 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>