Amid the WhatsApp data reduction policy fiasco, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has finally said something on the subject. In a recent statement, Zuckerberg said the new data sharing policy aims to facilitate “optional experiences for businesses on the app.” Zuckerberg also said the update does not change the privacy of anyone’s messages with friends and family and that WhatsApp is in the process of updating its privacy policy.
In a Facebook post detailing Zuckerberg’s focus on four major themes, including communities, private messaging, commerce tools for small businesses, and building the next computing platform, the Facebook CEO said that over 175 million people send messages to a business on WhatsApp every day. He said that since many businesses need more than a phone to manage their customer service, “we are creating tools to enable businesses to store and manage their WhatsApp chats using our secure infrastructure if they choose”, which means the feature is optional for businesses. “We are in the process of updating the WhatsApp privacy policy and terms of service to reflect these optional experiences,” Zuckerberg said in his Facebook post.
After explaining why businesses may need to store certain chats on WhatsApp, Zuckerberg clarified that this update does not change the privacy of anyone’s messages with friends and family. “All of these messages are end-to-end encrypted – which means we can’t see or hear what you’re saying, and we never will unless the person you’re messageing chooses to share it”, Zuckerberg said.
The Facebook CEO’s post came after sharing the company’s community update and quarterly results, according to his Facebook post.
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