Reception and criticism of WhatsApp security and privacy features information
Reception and criticism of security and privacy features in the WhatsApp messaging service
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WhatsApp Timeline
Feb 24, 2009
Jan Koum incorporates WhatsApp in California.[1]
Aug 2009
WhatsApp 2.0 is released on the App Store for the iPhone.[2]
Oct 2009
Brian Acton persuades five ex-Yahoo! friends to invest $250,000 in seed funding, and is granted co-founder status.[1]
Aug 2010
WhatsApp support for Android OS is added.[3]
Jan 21, 2011
WeChat, a messenger app, is founded.[4] It eventually starts to compete with WhatsApp and becomes very popular in China.
Apr 2011
In Series A round, WhatsApp founders agree to take $7 million from Sequoia Capital on top of their $250,000 seed funding, after months of negotiation with Sequoia partner Jim Goetz.[1]
May 2011
Snapchat, a competing photo messaging app, is founded.[5]
Jan 6, 2012
An unknown hacker publishes a website that makes it possible to change the status of an arbitrary WhatsApp user, as long as the phone number was known.[6][7]
Aug 2012
The WhatsApp support staff announce that messages were encrypted in the "latest version" of the WhatsApp software for iOS and Android (but not BlackBerry, Windows Phone, and Symbian), without specifying the cryptographic method.[8]
Feb 2013
WhatsApp's user base grows to about 200 million active users and its staff to 50.[1]
Jul 2013
Sequoia invests another $50 million in Series B round, valuing WhatsApp at $1.5 billion.[9]
Jul 16, 2013
WhatsApp changes its profit model with an annual subscription fee of $1 after a free first year.[10][11]
Aug 2013
Telegram, a cloud-based instant messaging service, launches.[12]
Aug 2013
WhatsApp introduces voice messaging.[13]
Feb 19, 2014
Facebook, Inc. announces its acquisition of WhatsApp for US$19 billion, its largest acquisition to date.[14] Facebook pays $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in Facebook shares, and an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units granted to WhatsApp's founders.[15]
Mar 2014
Someone discovers a vulnerability in WhatsApp encryption on the Android application that allows another app to access and read all of a user’s chat conversations within it.[16]
Nov 2014
WhatsApp introduces Read Receipts, which show when a message is read by a recipient. Within a week, WhatsApp introduces an update allowing users to disable this feature.[17]
Jan 21, 2015
WhatsApp launches WhatsApp Web, a web client which can be used through a web browser by syncing with the mobile device's connection.[18]
Jan 21, 2015
WhatsApp announces its policy on cracking down on 3rd-party clients, including WhatsApp+.[19] Users would not be able to use WhatsApp’s services at all until the third-party apps are uninstalled.[20]
Dec 2015
WhatsApp is briefly shut down in Brazil after it refuses to place wiretaps on certain WhatsApp accounts.[21] It is shut down in Brazil again on May 2016 and in July 2016.[22]
Jan 18, 2016
Jan Koum announces that WhatsApp will no longer charge its users a $1 annual subscription fee.[23][24] There is still no clear plan for monetizing WhatsApp.[25]
Mar 2016
Diego Dzodan, a Facebook executive, is arrested by Brazilian federal police after Facebook fails to turn over information from his WhatsApp messaging account into a judge's request for a drug trafficking investigation.[26][27]
Mar 2, 2016
WhatsApp introduces its document-sharing feature, initially allowing users to share PDF files with their contacts.[28]
Apr 5, 2016
WhatsApp and Open Whisper Systems announce that they have added end-to-end encryption to "every form of communication" on WhatsApp, and that users could now verify each other's keys.[29][30][31]
May 10, 2016
WhatsApp is introduced for both Windows and Mac operating systems.[32]
January 2018
WhatsApp launches WhatsApp Business, a platform for small enterprises where they can connect with customers.[33]
April 2018
WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum announces he’s leaving the company after clashes with Facebook, saying “I sold my users’ privacy”.[34]
September 2018
WhatsApp launches group audio and video calls.[35]
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This article should be summarized in WhatsApp#Security and privacy and a link provided from there to here using the {{Main}} template. See guidance in Wikipedia:Summary style.(January 2019)
Messaging with WhatsApp
This article provides a detailed chronological account of the historical reception and criticism of security and privacy features in the WhatsApp messaging service.
^ abcdParmy Olsen (February 2, 2014). "Exclusive: The Rags-To-Riches Tale Of How Jan Koum Built WhatsApp Into Facebook's New $19 Billion Baby". Forbes. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
^"WhatsApp 2.0 is submitted - WhatsApp Blog". Retrieved June 5, 2016.
^"Three-quarters of WhatsApp users are on Android, 22% on iOS (study)". Venturebeat.com. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
^"5 years of WeChat". Retrieved June 5, 2016.
^"Snapchat". Retrieved June 5, 2016.
^Schellevis, Joost (January 12, 2012). "What's app status: van Anderen os nog steeds te wijzigen" (in Dutch). Tweakers. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
^rvdm (January 12, 2012). "How What's app net works". Wire trip. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
^"Are my messages secure?". WhatsApp (FAQ). Zendesk. August 15, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
^"PrivCo". Privco.com. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
^"The Granddaddy Of Messaging Apps, WhatsApp, Finally Goes For A Subscription Model on iOS". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
^"WhatsApp, the Internet Messenger, to Become Free". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
^"Russia's Zuckerberg launches Telegram, a new instant messenger service". Reuters.com. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
^"Voice Messaging Comes To Whatsapp". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
^"WhatsApp Was Valued At ~$1.5B In Final Round Before Sale". Techcrunch. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
^"Facebook to Buy WhatsApp for $19 Billion". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
^"Hole In WhatsApp For Android Lets Hackers Steal Your Conversations". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
^"Whatsapp now lets you disable Read notifications". November 15, 2014.
^"WhatsApp Web". January 21, 2015.
^"(Updated) WhatsApp begins crackdown on unlicensed 3rd party clients". Androidauthority.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
^"WhatsApp Says It's Not "Permanently" Banning Users From Its Service, Just Blocking Third-Party Clients". Techcrunch.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
^"Brazil Restores WhatsApp Service After Brief Blockade Over Wiretap Request". The New York Times. December 17, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
^"WhatsApp Is Briefly Shut Down in Brazil for a Third Time". The New York Times. July 19, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
^Ina Fried (January 18, 2016). "Facebook's Whatsapp is Now Free". Re Code. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
^"Whatsapp to Drop Subscription Fee". Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. January 18, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
^"No Subscription Charges For WhatsApp: Does Facebook Have A Monetization Strategy In Place?". Forbes. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
^"Brazil Arrests Facebook Executive in WhatsApp Data Access Case". The New York Times. March 1, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
^"Senior Facebook executive arrested in Brazil after police denied access to data". The Washington Post. March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
^"WhatsApp adds support for document sharing, but only PDFs at launch". TechCrunch. March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
^Metz, Cade (April 5, 2016). "Forget Apple vs. the FBI: WhatsApp Just Switched on Encryption for a Billion People". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
^Lomas, Natasha (April 5, 2016). "WhatsApp completes end-to-end encryption rollout". TechCrunch. AOL Inc. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
^"WhatsApp Introduces End-to-End Encryption". The New York Times. April 5, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
^"Introducing WhatsApp's desktop app", WhatsApp Blog, 10 May 2016, retrieved 11 May 2016
^Ong, Thuy (January 19, 2018). "WhatsApp launches a separate app for small businesses". The Verge. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
^Nieva, Richard (September 26, 2018). "WhatsApp co-founder: 'I sold my users' privacy' with Facebook acquisition". CNET. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
^Chowdhry, Amit. "WhatsApp's Group Audio And Video Calling Features Arrive On iPhone And Android". Forbes. Archived from the original on September 20, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
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