Open to govt. questions on privacy update, says WhatsApp head

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Under fire over its recent privacy policy update, WhatsApp on Thursday said it is open to answering any questions from the government on the issue and is aware that the company will have to “compete” for users’ trust with rivals such as Signal.

In an interview, WhatsApp head Will Cathcart said the Facebook-owned company remains committed to privacy and security of users across India and will continue to explain to users that their messages are end-to-end encrypted.

Rival messaging platforms such as Signal and Telegram had seen phenomenal rise in downloads soon after WhatsApp sought user consent to its updated privacy policy that seeks to share some data with Facebook.

“We know we have to compete for users’ trust when it comes to privacy and that’s very good for the world. People should have choices in how they communicate and feel confident that no one else can see their chats,” Cathcart said.