WhatsApp

WhatsApp

Basic information
Founded	2009
Legal Structure	Subsidiary
Industry	Social Media, Messaging
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.

Collects and shares metadata, while competing apps intentionally collect less to avoid incursions on their users' privacy.^[1]

The combination of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, all owned by Meta, serves billions of active users.^[2]

This is a list of all consumer protection incidents in which this company is involved. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the WhatsApp category.

Since late 2017, WhatsApp lets message senders remotely delete messages for a limited duration after sending.^[3] This time limit was extended repeatedly, to slightly over an hour in 2018^[4] and two and a half days in 2022.^[5]

Additionally, since 2023, WhatsApp lets message senders remotely falsify messages for up to a quarter hour after sending. When a message is falsified by the sender, the recipient can no longer see the untampered message.^[6]

The WhatsApp software acts against the will of the device owner by letting someone else remotely delete or falsify existing information on their device retroactively. Many people are forced to accept this infringement of their ownership as a result of the network effect, the high number of existing WhatsApp users.

There are several instances of data lock-in in WhatsApp. For example, if WhatsApp staff suspends an account, WhatsApp holds the message history hostage. The user is unable to access any messages stored on their device, unless they successfully appeal their suspension. This means WhatsApp staff has more control over some data stored on devices of WhatsApp users than the device owners themselves. This is as close as it gets to ramsomware without officially being labelled as such.^[7][8]

Users also lose access to their messaging history unless they run a recent version. The developers behind WhatsApp could have provided users read-only access, meaning letting users read existing messages but not send new messages unless they update, but they chose to completely disable access to the messages until an update is completed.

There are situations where users are not able to update. These include being at a remote location with limited Internet access, exhaustion of ones mobile data plan, and having an older device where updating is not possible anymore because its operating system is no longer supported by a recent version of WhatsApp.

If a WhatsApp user has not used the service for four months, they are required to repeat the registration process before being able to access to their message history.^[9] In addition, changing ones' phone number means losing access to all existing messages that were not backed up in advance.

WhatsApp also lets the user back up their messages to their Google account, but they are stored in a way they can only be accessed from WhatsApp, not externally.

WhatsApp provides a chat exporting feature which allows to export the entire chat history as a text file, optionally including media attachments, into a ZIP file. However, there is no way to export all messages at once. It has to be done for every contact and every group individually. Additionally, starting with an April 2025 update, exporting can be remotely disabled by the other participant through the "Advanced Chat Privacy" feature., meaning the user is at the mercy of the other participant to allow exporting.

There are legitimate reasons for exporting chats, such as creating backups in a human-readable and non-proprietary format, preempting erroneous account terminations (examples), searching using external tools, and preserving good memories with people, including those of deceased individuals (as shown in Ed Sheeran - Old Phone).

If one doesn't trust someone to keep something secret, one should not send it in the first place, like one not tell them in real life.

The developers of WhatsApp have threatened to block screenshots inside chats with "advanced chat privacy" enabled:^[10]

The company has stated that this is the first iteration of the feature, with plans to introduce even more robust protections in future updates, potentially including measures to block screenshots.

WhatsApp has used its dominant market share to act as a moral arbiter.

In March 2024, WhatsApp started disabling screen captures of profile pictures viewed in full screen, supposedly to "protect the privacy" of its users. This only is possible because the mainstream mobile operating systems, Android and iOS, let applications disable screen capturing against the will of device owners.^[11]

Profile picture screenshots are no privacy violation, given that they are something users voluntarily choose to make public on a visible spot of their profiles, and never were a mandatory requirement to be able to use WhatsApp. It should also be noted that WhatsApp is ironically operated by a data harvesting company (Meta, Inc.).

In June 2025, Meta announced that personalized ads would be introduced globally on WhatsApp.^[12] Previously, Meta (then known as Facebook) stated in 2014, after it acquired the application:

("[…] And you can still count on absolutely no ads interrupting your communication.").^[13]

The personalized ads also utilize data from linked accounts on other Meta platforms.^[14]

Main article: WhatsApp updates privacy policy and millions of users flee the platform

There was widespread backlash over an upcoming privacy policy update related to the data-sharing procedures with Facebook. It outlined how businesses that use WhatsApp for customer service may store logs of their chats on Facebook servers.^[15] The update sparked a broader concern, prompting millions of users to abandon the platform.^[16]

WhatsApp forces users to stay on updated versions of the app by first giving them an in-app warning if they have not updated for a while. If the user still chooses not to update, usage of the app will be disabled entirely ^{[citation needed - how long before this happens? any screenshots?]}. This is problematic in certain cases, such as being in an area with poor or limited internet connectivity or using an older device that is no longer supported.^[17][18]

• 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 that of a commercial messenger.

• Telegram is the most popular alternative and is end-user-friendly, with minimal content moderation. Prior to a September 2024 policy change, it refused to hand over user data to law enforcement upon request.^[19]