WhatsApp is private and safe, director promises Dutch media as Signal use grows
With the use of the chat app Signal growing fast in the Netherlands, WhatsApp has launched a charm offensive in the Dutch media. WhatsApp is safe and protects users’ privacy, director Will Cathcart told a handful of Dutch journalists during a Zoom conversation, NU.nl reports.
WhatsApp wants to debunk certain claims that are circulating in the Netherlands, mainly about the security of the Meta messaging service. “We believe strongly in private communication,” Cathcart said. On WhatsApp, only the sender and recipient can view the content of messages and WhatsApp uses the same security protocol as Signal for this, he said.
WhatsApp and Signal do differ in the use of metadata, which can be used to track who chats with whom and when. But WhatsApp definitely does not do that, Dirk Brouwer, a Dutchman working as a technical executive at WhatsApp in the United States, told the journalists. He also said that WhatsApp does not share locations and contacts.
Signal has become one of the most downloaded apps in the Netherlands. But according to the Meta two executives, WhatsApp is not seeing a migration away from the app. “Most Dutch people use WhatsApp. There is not much room left to grow, but that is still happening.” They didn’t give specific figures.
