We want to be clear that the January 2021 terms and privacy policy updates do not affect personal messages. The changes are related to optional business features on WhatsApp, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data.

What's not changing?

The privacy and security of your personal messages and calls do not change. They are protected by end-to-end encryption, and WhatsApp and Meta cannot read or listen to them. We will never weaken this security and we label each chat so you know our commitment.

Optional Business Features

We’re working to better support over 175 million people who message a business account every day. The updates related to optional business features are a part of our broader efforts to make communicating with a business secure, better, and easier for everyone. These efforts include:

• Enabling customer service: People find it useful to chat with businesses to ask questions, to make a purchase, or get helpful information like purchase receipts. We’re now making it easier to chat with businesses who may use Meta business products. To respond to customers, some businesses need secure hosting services that Meta plans to offer. When a business uses this service, we will clearly label the chat so it’s up to you whether or not you message them.
• Discovering a business: People can already discover businesses on Facebook or Instagram from ads that show a button you can click to message them using WhatsApp. Just like other ads on Facebook, if you choose to click on these ads, it may be used to personalize the ads you see on Facebook. Again, WhatsApp and Meta cannot see the content of any end to end encrypted messages.
• Shopping experiences: More people are shopping online, increasing as we are apart. Where available, businesses with a Shop on Facebook or Instagram can already have Shops on their WhatsApp business profile. This allows you to see a business's products on Facebook and Instagram and shop from it directly in WhatsApp. If you choose to interact with Shops, we will let you know in WhatsApp how your data is being shared with Meta.

You can learn more details about these optional features and how we work with Meta here.