WhatsApp: Difference between revisions
Start of service article |
m Added logo |
||
| (One intermediate revision by one other user not shown) | |||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
| Industry =Social Media | | Industry =Social Media | ||
| Official Website =https://www.whatsapp.com/ | | Official Website =https://www.whatsapp.com/ | ||
| Logo = | | Logo =WhatsApp Logo green.svg | ||
}}'''[[wikipedia:WhatsApp|WhatsApp]]''' (officially '''WhatsApp Messenger''') is an American instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate [[Meta]]. | }}'''[[wikipedia:WhatsApp|WhatsApp]]''' (officially '''WhatsApp Messenger''') is an American instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate [[Meta]]. | ||
==Consumer impact summary== | ==Consumer impact summary== | ||
=== User Privacy === | ===User Privacy=== | ||
Collects and shares metadata, while rivaling apps intentionally collect less to avoid incursions on its users’ privacy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Elkind |first=Peter |last2=Gillum |first2=Jack |last3=Silverman |first3=Craig |date=7 Sep 2021 |title=How Facebook Undermines Privacy Protections for Its 2 Billion WhatsApp Users |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/how-facebook-undermines-privacy-protections-for-its-2-billion-whatsapp-users |access-date=6 Mar 2025 |website=ProPublica}}</ref> | Collects and shares metadata, while rivaling apps intentionally collect less to avoid incursions on its users’ privacy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Elkind |first=Peter |last2=Gillum |first2=Jack |last3=Silverman |first3=Craig |date=7 Sep 2021 |title=How Facebook Undermines Privacy Protections for Its 2 Billion WhatsApp Users |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/how-facebook-undermines-privacy-protections-for-its-2-billion-whatsapp-users |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907090516/https://www.propublica.org/article/how-facebook-undermines-privacy-protections-for-its-2-billion-whatsapp-users |archive-date=7 Sep 2021 |access-date=6 Mar 2025 |website=ProPublica}}</ref> | ||
=== Market Control === | ===Market Control=== | ||
The combination of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, all owned by Meta, serve billions of active users.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dixon |first=Stacy Jo |date=10 Jul 2024 |title=Most popular social networks worldwide as of April 2024, by number of monthly active users |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/ |access-date=6 Mar 2025 |website=Statista}}</ref> | The combination of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, all owned by Meta, serve billions of active users.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dixon |first=Stacy Jo |date=10 Jul 2024 |title=Most popular social networks worldwide as of April 2024, by number of monthly active users |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/ |access-date=6 Mar 2025 |website=Statista}}</ref> | ||
| Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
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]]. | 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]]. | ||
=== Privacy policy update (2021) === | ===Privacy policy update (2021)=== | ||
{{Main|WhatsApp updates privacy policy and millions of users flee the platform}} | {{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> | 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> | ||