WhatsApp ads are coming to the chat app – and you CAN’T stop them
Because targeted adverts require personal data, critics warn that the introduction of ads on WhatsApp will undermine the privacy usually enjoyed by its users
WHATSAPP will soon begin showing its users adverts on the Status section of its app, with the change expected to be implemented early next year.
It's not known what kind of data will be used to target ads at the app's users, but critics are now suggesting that their introduction could undermine the privacy and security enjoyed by WhatsApp users.
WhatsApp added its in February, allowing users to create temporary posts as a way of sharing the latest goings-on in their lives with their contacts.
Plans to insert ads into the feature were first made public by the company in , but this week WhatsApp Vice President Chris Daniels reporters in India that these plans will be realised soon.
"We are going to be putting ads in 'Status'. That is going to be primary monetisation mode for the company as well as an opportunity for businesses to reach people on WhatsApp," he said.
He didn't give a precise date for the change, but with WhatsApp having around 1.5 billion users worldwide, it's one that will affect many people.
While ads are an all-too common feature of modern life, WhatsApp had built its brand on providing users with an ad-free space.
"No ads. No games. No gimmicks," declared an unofficial slogan for the company, which one early investor was built on a "commitment to stay focused on building a pure messaging experience".
On top of its opposition to adverts, its use of end-to-end encryption also earned it a reputation as a secure platform, one which would protect people's data and privacy.
However, its company mission began to change after being acquired by Facebook in 2014, and after the departure of its two co-founders, Brian Acton and Jan Koum.
And there are some industry commentators who fear that the arrival of ads will undermine its reputation for privacy even further, given that adverts can be targeted at people only by harvesting their data.
Rasmus Hoist, the chief revenue officer at rival messaging platform Wire, tells the Sun: "WhatsApp introduced end-to-end encryption in 2014 in a big step forward for people’s digital privacy. Now, with the introduction of adverts into their application, they have taken an even bigger step backward."
According to reports, WhatsApp's adverts will be "powered" by Facebook's ad system.
However, given that not every WhatsApp user is on Facebook, it's likely that user data will need to be taken from WhatsApp in order for people to be shown ads for 'relevant' businesses and products.
And this, according to critics like Hoist, weakens the claim that WhatsApp is completely private.
He says, "Allowing adverts to creep into users’ messages not only undermines their privacy, but also jeopardises their sensitive information and data, meaning that every word someone communicates through the application is used as ammunition for the data harvesting machine used by adtech firms."
"It also means that the application is not truly end-to-end encrypted because this data is left at the mercy of the tech barons using customer information for profit."
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In other words, while WhatsApp affirms that messages between users and businesses will be sent using end-to-end encryption, there's nothing to prevent businesses from keeping the messages they receive from users in a decrypted form offline.
This means storing their personal details in a database, which (as parent company Facebook knows only too well) is not always entirely safe.
WhatsApp has been approached by the Sun for comment.
Are you bothered by the appearance of adverts on WhatsApp? Let us know in the comments.
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