| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2009 |
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Social Media |
| Official website | https://www.whatsapp.com/ |
WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta.
Consumer impact summary[edit | edit source]
User Privacy[edit | edit source]
Collects and shares metadata, while rivaling apps intentionally collect less to avoid incursions on its users’ privacy.[1]
Market Control[edit | edit source]
The combination of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, all owned by Meta, serve billions of active users.[2]
Incidents[edit | edit source]
This is a list of all consumer protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the WhatsApp category.
Introduction of advertising (2025)[edit | edit source]
In June 2025, Meta announced that personalized ads would be introduced into WhatsApp world wide.[3] 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.").[4] The personalized ads also make use of data from linked accounts on other meta platforms.[5]
Privacy policy update (2021)[edit | edit source]
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.[6] The update received a broader concern, causing millions of users to flee the platform.[7]
Alternatives[edit | edit source]
Signal offers most of the same features, and while not without some issues, the app is open source, relies on Privacy by Design and is operated by a non-profit.
Matrix is more private and uses a federated design, but setup is slightly more involved than a commercial messenger.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Elkind, Peter; Gillum, Jack; Silverman, Craig (7 Sep 2021). "How Facebook Undermines Privacy Protections for Its 2 Billion WhatsApp Users". ProPublica. Archived from the original on 7 Sep 2021. Retrieved 6 Mar 2025.
- ↑ Dixon, Stacy Jo (10 Jul 2024). "Most popular social networks worldwide as of April 2024, by number of monthly active users". Statista. Retrieved 6 Mar 2025.
- ↑ Scharon, Harding (2025-06-16). "Ads are "rolling out gradually" to WhatsApp". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ↑ "Facebook". WhatsApp Blog. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ↑ "Helping You Find More Channels and Businesses on WhatsApp". Meta Newsroom. 2025-06-16. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
- ↑ Statt, Nick (12 Jan 2021). "WhatsApp clarifies it's not giving all your data to Facebook after surge in Signal and Telegram users". The Verge. Archived from the original on 12 Jan 2021. Retrieved 6 Mar 2025.
- ↑ Hern, Alex (24 Jan 2021). "WhatsApp loses millions of users after terms update". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 Jan 2021. Retrieved 6 Mar 2025.