Daily US Times: WhatsApp has launched its first major privacy-focused advertising campaign in the United Kingdom.
The decision follows a customer backlash against changes to the company’s terms and conditions, announced earlier this year.
WhatsApp also said it is standing firm against pressure from governments, including the United Kingdom, to compromise on the way that it encrypts messages.
WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart said authorities should “demand more security” rather than less.
He said: “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.”
The privacy-focused marketing campaign is set to run internationally, beginning in Germany and the UK on Monday.
WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, which means messages can only be read on the device which receives it and device which sends one. WhatsApp itself cannot view or intercept them, and neither can law enforcement. Facebook is the parent company of WhatsApp.
British 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.
In a speech in April, she said that 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 widely across its other services.
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