WhatsApp launches privacy campaign after backlash

WhatsApp launches privacy campaign after backlash
# 14 June 2021 10:37 (UTC +04:00)

WhatsApp has launched its first major privacy-focused advertising campaign in the UK, APA reports citing BBC.

It follows a customer backlash against changes to its terms and conditions, announced earlier this year.

The platform also said it is standing firm against pressure from governments, including the UK, to compromise on the way that it encrypts messages.

Authorities should "demand more security" rather than less, WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart told the BBC.

"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," he said.

"They should be out there trying to encourage or even mandate that companies offer the strongest security possible."

The marketing campaign is set to run internationally, beginning in the UK and Germany on Monday.

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.

In a speech in April said she wanted to see it used "in a way in which is also consistent with public protection and child safety" but did not elaborate on how this might work.

Facebook says it intends to roll out encryption more broadly across its other services.

Mr Cathcart said he "lives with the reality" that more countries could also choose to block the platform as tech sector regulations tighten around the world.

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