WhatsApp Highlights the Importance of Encryption in Its New Ads

With privacy and security being among primary concerns the recent years, no wonder Meta (and all its services) does its best to capitalize on this. And the first among them is WhatsApp. Its latest advertising campaign emphasizes the importance of end-to-end encryption in maintaining privacy for users.

The video ad WhatsApp published compares unencrypted messaging to delivering regular paper mail-in open envelopes. In this video, a postman delivers an envelope torn open to the recipient and says that he just delivered the messages and is not responsible for someone else being able to read it. Maybe it’s a bit of exaggeration, but it illustrates how WhatsApp sells the idea of end-to-end encryption. At least, messages you send on WhatsApp are encrypted, unlike regular SMS texting.

It’s especially valuable to see after the recent scandals where Facebook got involved. A crucial part of it included allegations of letting third-party companies access the user data. After this, Facebook (and its mother company Meta) had to emphasize the importance of their users’ privacy and security. So here we go.

WhatsApp has introduced end-to-end encryption in April 2016. But it’s just the beginning of the new phase which includes integration of all the messaging services Meta owns: Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. In this situation, end-to-end encryption within each of these platforms isn’t enough. Given that Facebook Messenger and Instagram DM haven’t received end-to-end encryption yet, it’s logical to develop it keeping the integration in mind, so the encryption is compatible across all these services.

Have you ever experienced troubles because of your messages being intercepted? Do you think encryption is overrated for regular users, or isn’t it? It’s a sensitive matter, but let’s talk about it in our comments!