Tech
WhatsApp launches privacy campaign following backlash
WhatsApp has launched its first privacy-focused advertising campaign, following major backlash
Millions in the UK stopped using WhatsApp, thanks to new privacy changes that were implemented at the start of the year.
The messaging platform is standing firm against pressure from governments that want to compromise the way that it encrypts messages.
WhatsApp’s boss says governments shouldn’t be out there trying to encourage tech companies to offer weak security.
Authorities should “demand more security” rather than less, WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart told the media.
“The first step of keeping people safe is, you have to have strong security, and we think governments shouldn’t be out there trying to encourage tech companies to offer weak security,”
“They should be out there trying to encourage or even mandate that companies offer the strongest security possible.”
WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, which means messages can only be read on the device which sends one and the device which receives it. WhatsApp itself – and by default its parent company Facebook – cannot view or intercept them, and neither can law enforcement.
The marketing campaign is set to run internationally, beginning in the UK and Germany today.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has described the use of end-to-end encryption as “not acceptable” in the fight against the sharing of illegal content.