
Audio By Carbonatix
Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp has started posting Status messages to users about its “commitment to your privacy.”
The in-app messages were appearing for members of The Verge staff in the US and UK on Saturday, and some users reported the Status messages — WhatsApp’s version of Snapchat Stories or Twitter Fleets—have been appearing in India for a while now.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation and confusion around our recent update and we want to help everyone understand the facts behind how WhatsApp protects people’s privacy and security,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said in an email to The Verge.
“Going forward, we’re going to provide updates to people in the Status tab so people hear from WhatsApp directly. Our first update reaffirms that WhatsApp cannot see your personal messages, and neither can Facebook, because they are protected by end-to-end encryption.”
The messages read “One thing that isn’t new is our commitment to your privacy,” and a reminder that “WhatsApp can’t read or listen to your personal conversations as they’re end-to-end encrypted.”

The messages are part of a larger effort from WhatsApp to dispel misperceptions about an upcoming update to its privacy policy.
The update is meant to explain how businesses that use WhatsApp for customer service may store logs of their chats on Facebook’s servers. WhatsApp previewed the changes to business chats in November.
Given Facebook’s history of privacy blunders, however, users misinterpreted the changes to the privacy policy to mean WhatsApp would require sharing sensitive profile information with Facebook.
The company posted an FAQ page about the changes, and has pushed back the date the update will take effect from February to May.
It issued a statement earlier this month addressing the confusion to reiterate what the new privacy policy would cover:
The update does not change WhatsApp’s data sharing practices with Facebook and does not impact how people communicate privately with friends or family wherever they are in the world.
WhatsApp remains deeply committed to protecting people’s privacy. We are communicating directly with users through WhatsApp about these changes so they have time to review the new policy over the course of the next month
Amid the ensuing confusion, rival messaging apps Signal and Telegram have both recently seen a surge in new users.
Telegram said last week it’s added the ability for users to import their chat history from WhatsApp. And Signal has added new mainstream chat features like animated stickers and wallpapers to its app.
Latest Stories
-
NACOC trains SHS Guidance and Counselling Coordinators on drug prevention strategies
11 minutes -
The fraudsters don’t use hacking, they play on our minds – BoG’s Cab-Beyuo on Mobile Money Fraud
13 minutes -
The currency politics: Is it new?
18 minutes -
NADMO receives relief items from Latter-day Saints Church for flood victims
19 minutes -
NPP directs members to join national clean-up exercise after constituency elections
28 minutes -
GMet forecasts thunderstorms, light rain and misty conditions across parts of Ghana
31 minutes -
Mamprugu Moagduri Assembly executes 23 development projects, targets more in 2026.
52 minutes -
NASPAA urges national service personnel to join two-day flood cleanup exercise
59 minutes -
Don’t turn digital finance into a tax trap – Prof Bokpin cautions government
1 hour -
Today’s Front pages: Thursday, July 9, 2026
1 hour -
75 Bank staff dismissed as fraud cases surge 48% – Bank of Ghana report
2 hours -
Ibrahim Mahama to pay hospital bills of Ghana’s tallest man battling gigantism
2 hours -
Eastern Corridor Road to undergo full asphalt reconstruction, not patch repairs – Roads Minister
2 hours -
Absa Bank empowers Persons with Disabilities through financial literacy programme
3 hours -
Joyce Bawah Mogtari calls for collective responsibility to tackle flooding and waste management challenges
3 hours