WhatsApp

WhatsApp Messenger

Main article: WhatsApp Messenger

The key product of the company is the WhatsApp Messenger messenger.

WhatsApp in Russia

Main article: WhatsApp in Russia

Internet audience

2021: Tenth on list of most visited sites

Ranking of the most visited sites in 2021

2020: In the top 50 largest Internet sites in the world

The largest Internet sites in the world for November 2020

2012: App audience - 100 million users

According to analysts, at the end of 2012, the number of users of the WhatsApp messenger reached 100 million^[1].

The timing of reaching the number of 100 million users by various applications

History

2025: WhatsApp hole allows hackers to steal phone numbers and other data of 3.5 billion users

On November 18, 2025, information security researchers from the University of Vienna and the SBA Research Center reported that the peculiarity of WhatsApp (the messenger belongs to Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) made it possible to extract phone numbers of 3.5 billion users of this messenger. The data obtained can theoretically be used in organizing fraudulent schemes. Read more here.

2023

WhatsApp has a function to ensure the confidentiality of the IP address of the called subscriber

The developers of the mobile messenger WhatsApp have officially announced the possibility of hiding the IP address of the called subscriber. This privacy function is implemented at the level of a special messenger option that needs to be enabled in advance. If this is done, communication between the caller and the called party will pass through the server, which will not allow you to find out by the IP address the approximate location of the devices for each other. At the same time, it is possible, as stated on the service website, some deterioration in the quality of communication.

Official Instructions for Enabling IP Address Privacy Protection Service

Actually, beta testing of such a function became known at the end of August this year thanks to the information of the mobile portal WABetaInfo. At the same time, it was said that the possibility of hiding the IP address of the receiving party arose after the introduction this summer of a special protocol for another function - "Mute for unknown numbers." When enabling both this service and the IP address protection service, the protocol uses a special privacy token that prevents the caller from obtaining information about the party receiving the call.

When making a call, the initiator of the call inserts the recipient's privacy token into the protocol message when communicating with the server, the company explained the privacy protection mechanism. - The server then checks the validity of the token, as well as several other factors, to determine whether the intended recipient allows this sender to call him. It is important that to ensure user privacy, the server does not know anything about the exact relationship between the caller and the recipient of the token. Thanks to these features, the use of calls is becoming a less attractive direction of attack for attackers.

It should be noted that voice communication through the server seems to make it possible for developers to listen to conversations. However, when end-to-end encryption is enabled, in which the keys are bound to the device and are not transferred beyond it, the server cannot theoretically decrypt voice communication. But information security specialists, as always, have doubts about the correctness of the implementation of the end-to-end encryption function and suspicions that the developer could leave some unknown loophole.

In addition, the use of such a function requires communication between the client application and the server. At the same time, WhatsApp developers hide the territorial location of the servers. Most likely, there are no servers that would process the corresponding WhatsApp call protocol in Russia. Therefore, enabling this feature for Russian users may cause such large delays when talking that it will be easier to communicate using voice messaging.

Penalty for forcing users to share their data for advertising

On January 19, 2023, the Data Protection Ireland Commission (DPC) imposed a fine on the instant messaging service (WhatsApp owned by a company Meta that is recognized as an extremist organization; activities in the territory of the Russian Federation are prohibited). The collection is related to the method of collecting and using personal data of users. messenger

Claims to Meta boil down to the fact that the WhatsApp service uses the "forced consent" of users to process personal information, linking this requirement to the terms of service. In particular, the service can analyze metadata, for example, to collect statistics on who communicates with whom and how often. In addition, some information may affect user activity in other services. In fact, the claims against WhatsApp are related to the fact that user data is used for advertising purposes. The company denies accusations against it, stating that the information collected is necessary to optimize the platform's operation taking into account the needs and interests of specific consumers.

WhatsApp will pay millions to force users to share their data for ads

By decision of the DPC, WhatsApp was fined €5.5 million for violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In addition, to improve user service, the messenger is ordered to revise how it uses the collected personal data. It takes six months to meet the relevant requirements. A WhatsApp spokesman said the service disagreed with the ruling.

WhatsApp leads the private messaging industry by providing end-to-end encryption and the necessary level of privacy to protect users. We firmly believe that the principles of the service meet the technical and legal requirements. We do not agree with the decision and intend to appeal, the company said.[2]

2021: EU fine €225m for opaque handling of personal information

WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, received an order from the EU authorities to pay a fine of 225 million euros ($266 million) for opaque handling of personal information, which was the first fine under strengthened EU data protection legislation.

The largest fines for violating the law on personal data in EU as of September 6, 2022,
Instagram and Facebook are recognized as extremist organizations and banned in Russia

2018

WhatsApp co-founder reveals reasons for quitting Facebook

On September 26, 2018, Brian Acton, in a conversation with a Forbes journalist, spoke about the reasons for his departure from Facebook. This is the first interview the WhatsApp co-founder had since being fired. The sticking point, he said, was Acton's and Facebook's management's differing views on the company's advertising policies. Read more here.

WhatsApp co-founders give up $1.3bn before quitting Facebook

In June 2018, it became known that WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton left Facebook, refusing a reward of $1.3 billion. Details of the conflict with Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg are cited by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing knowledgeable sources.

According to them, the terms of labor contracts stipulated that Ian Kum and Brian Acton should finalize on Facebook by November 2018, and otherwise they will be deprived of the payment of shares. Kum left the company in May 2018 and lost $400 million. Acton left Facebook back in September 2017 and was not counted at about $900 million.

Jan Koum

Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $22 billion in 2014, and in 2016 a conflict began between the co-founders of the messenger and Mark Zuckerberg. The fact is that Kum and Acton, being supporters of privacy, were unhappy with Facebook's business model built on selling ads. In particular, the discontent was aimed at the following: Facebook advocated using information exchanged by users to further show them targeted advertisements.

Mark Zuckerberg assured the founders of WhatsApp that the company does not plan to advertise in the messenger. There was a separate clause in their contract that followed that Koum and Acton could walk away and receive all due rewards in the form of Facebook shares ahead of schedule if the company pushed for "additional monetization initiatives." Facebook complained about too little earnings on WhatsApp and the fact that the creators of WhatsApp delayed making decisions on the introduction of new functions in the messenger that could help monetize the service.

One of the WSJ interlocutors described the atmosphere in the company as "very passive-aggressive." Rank-and-file employees clashed, too: Those who worked at Facebook were not comfortable with their new counterparts enjoying privileges such as large tables or comfortable bathrooms, the sources said. In addition, WhatsApp meeting rooms were unavailable to Facebook employees.

Kum lost his temper when it came to work requirements for a large company. Sometimes he quarreled with Zuckerberg and other executives about small things, for example, over chairs that Facebook wanted to buy from WhatsApp, said a WSJ source familiar with the situation.

In January 2017, the 200-strong WhatsApp team moved from Mountain View to Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters. Some employees of the messenger were annoyed by the noisy Facebook campus with many restaurants and shops. They even plastered the office with "Please keep the noise level low" posters. After that, Facebook employees came up with the comic phrase Welcome to WhatsApp - Shut up! ("Welcome to WhatsApp - shut up!").

Nevertheless, according to WSJ sources, the founders of WhatsApp did not go into an open conflict with Zuckerberg and decided that they were interested in maintaining a normal relationship with Facebook management.

After Ian Koum and Brian Acton left Facebook, one of the top managers of the social network Chris Daniels began to run the WhatsApp service. According to the WSJ, the new head of WhatsApp was tasked with finding a business model that could increase revenues to a level that would correspond to the amount paid by Facebook for the messenger. At the same time, Daniels should not harm the functionality of WhatsApp, which make the service popular among 1.5 billion users.^[3]

2017

French regulator bans WhatsApp from sharing user data with Facebook

The French data privacy organization CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés)^[4] WhatsApp to stop transferring user data to its parent company Facebook. According to a statement published on the organization's website, the service was given a month to fulfill the requirements. The^[5].

This issue was first raised last year after WhatsApp added a clause to the user agreement about data exchange with Facebook to develop targeted advertising, ensure security and collect information for business analytics.

According to the CNIL statement, if WhatsApp's intention to improve security measures can be considered justified, then data collection for business intelligence raises a number of claims. In particular, WhatsApp does not notify users about data collection and this feature cannot be disabled. "This violates the basic freedoms of users," the CNIL noted.

Lockdown in China

On September 25, 2017, it became known about the blocking of WhatsApp in China. This is another move by Beijing to increase online surveillance ahead of a Communist Party meeting.

According to The New York Times (NYT), since mid-July 2017, some application functions have ceased to be available for many WhatsApp users in the Celestial Empire, including video chats and sending files.

The great Chinese firewall reached WhatsApp: the service is blocked in the country

Lokman Tsui, an Internet communications specialist at the University of Hong Kong, told the publication that serious problems in WhatsApp began on Sunday, September 24. The next day, WhatsApp blocked the ability to send messages to Chinese users. At the same time, Lockman Tsui noted that there is a possibility that some users can still use the messenger.

According to Nadim Kobeissi, a cryptography specialist at the French research company Symbolic Software, blocking WhatsApp text messages may indicate that Chinese censors have developed special software that could cope with the data encryption technology used by the messenger. 

Such a blocking method is usually not used by the PRC authorities, the expert noted.

WhatsApp remained the last service Facebook to remain available in mainland China. The social network itself was blocked in the country back in 2009. Photo hosting suffered the same fate. Instagram

The NYT notes that the increase in censorship became especially noticeable before the XIX Congress of the Communist Party of China, which is scheduled for October 18, 2017. The country blocks access to social networks not controlled by the government. Most are forced to use the WeChat messenger, which officially transfers users' personal data to the authorities.

Since 2003, China has operated the Golden Shield system (called the Great Chinese Firewall in the west), which filters user access to sites and Internet services. Blocking is usually subject to pages with anti-state or "sensitive" materials, as well as social networks and gambling-related content not controlled by the PRC government.^[6]

WhatsApp does not protect users from the state

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has studied the work of 26 Internet companies: how they cooperate with government agencies and what data they provide. WhatsApp received the lowest rating.

The EFF is dedicated to protecting the "electronic" rights of citizens. Every year she evaluates the work of the largest Internet companies and makes a kind of anti-rating: who is the worst at protecting their customers from the state. When compiling the latest rating, they studied the activities of 26 companies in 2016.

According to the results of the study: Adobe, Dropbox, Lyft, Wordpress and Uber comply with all the rules for protecting users from illegal access to personal data, RBC reports.

WhatsApp messenger received only two points out of five possible. The company does not inform users about cooperation with the state and does not guarantee protection from access to data.

Experts evaluate companies according to several criteria: transparency of cooperation between the company and the state; prohibition on the transfer of personal data to third parties; checking the legality of secret requests from US intelligence agencies and other indicators. In total, the company can receive up to five points.

European Commission fines Facebook 110 million euros over WhatsApp takeover deal

^[7] European Commission found Facebook guilty of hiding information during the purchase of the WhatsApp messenger in 2014 and imposed a fine of 110 million euros on the social network^[8].

In 2014, according to the regulator's decision, Facebook indicated in the documents for approval of the deal to buy WhatsApp that it would not automatically combine the accounts of social network users and the messenger. However, two years after the purchase, this was done.

Facebook faced a fine of up to 1 percent of annual turnover - up to $276 million, based on the company's 2016 accounts. However, the social network actively collaborated with the regulator, and the amount of the fine was reduced, the European Commission announced.

The European Commission called the 110 million euro fine "proportionate."

2014: Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19bn

On February 19, 2014, Facebook announced the acquisition of WhatsApp for $19 billion. Facebook paid $4 billion in cash and transferred its own shares worth ~ $12 billion^[9].

The agreement provides for the transfer of shares with restrictions in the amount of $3 billion to the founders and employees of WhatsApp within 4 years after the closure of the transaction.

WhatsApp had just 55 workers at the time of the deal.

In the first half of 2014, the service revenue amounted to $15 million, loss - $232.5 million.

2009: Ex-Yahoo employees form company

WhatsApp Inc. was created in 2009 in Mountain View,. USA WhatsApp was created by developers Ian Kum and Brian Acton. They previously worked for a total of 20 years at the company!. WhatsApp is a Yahoo pun from English pairing What's Up ("How are you?")

Notes