WhatsApp focuses on privacy campaign after backlash in UK, over Privacy Policy

WhatsApp has launched its first major privacy advertising campaign in the UK. Following the customer attack on changes to their terms and conditions, it was announced earlier this year.

The platform also said it stood firm against the pressure from governments, including the UK, to compromise on text messaging.

Authorities should "seek more security" than reduce it, WhatsApp manager Will Cathcart told the BBC.

"The first step to keeping people safe is that, you have to have strong security, and we think governments should not be there trying to encourage technology companies to provide weak security," he said.

"They should be there trying to promote or authorize companies to provide the strongest security."

The marketing campaign is expected to be rolled out internationally, starting in the UK and Germany on Monday.

WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, which means that messages can only be read on the one sending device and the receiving device. WhatsApp itself - and automatically its parent company Facebook - can't watch or block it, and even law enforcement can't.

Home Affairs Secretary Priti Patel has described the use of end encryption as "unacceptable" in the fight against sharing illegal content.

In a speech in April he said he wanted to see it used "in a way that is in line with public safety and child safety" but did not elaborate on how this could work.
Facebook claims to aim to remove most encrypted encryption for other services.

WhatsApp is already banned in China, and is Being sued by the Indian government for new privacy terms laws that will force it to violate its privacy protections. It is estimated at 400 million of its 2 billion global users in India.

Mr Cathcart said he was "living with the fact" that many countries could also choose to block the stadium as technology regulations are tightened around the world.

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We are fighting illegal content

While the company can detect the content of the messages, it has developed other tools that help it prevent illegal content and incorrectly shared information.

WhatsApp blocked two million accounts every month, and by 2020 the platform reported 300,000 images at the National Center for Missing Exploited Children, Mr Cathcart said.

It does this using a combination of messages from the recipients of the messages, and machine learning using the unwritten data that WhatsApp can see - such as the volume of messages sent to the account and how many groups it joins.

Messages sent several times before are also tagged, and there are limits to how many people a single user can share the same message with.

Confusion of terms and conditions

In January, thousands of users threatened to leave WhatsApp, thinking it would start sharing messaging details with Facebook following an announcement about changes to its terms and conditions.

Those who did not accept the renewal will start losing their jobs, he said.

There were false allegations that the privacy of personal messages was about to change, and thousands of frightened people flocked to rival services such as Signal and Telegram.

The changes are actually more closely related to making companies accept payments via WhatsApp.

Will Cathcart said the company was responsible for the confusion caused by the announcement.

"Again, there is nothing about the privacy of people's conversations that has changed in our review," he said.