PRIVACY
WhatsApp cofounder to leave Facebook after privacy clash
San Francisco — The cofounder of WhatsApp, a messaging service owned by Facebook with more than 1-billion daily users, said on Monday that he was leaving the company, spelling the loss of one of the strongest advocates for privacy inside Facebook. Jan Koum’s plan to exit comes after clashing with the parent company over WhatsApp’s strategy and Facebook’s attempts to use its personal data and weaken its encryption, the Washington Post reported earlier, citing people familiar with the internal discussions. "It’s been almost a decade since Brian and I started WhatsApp, and it’s been an amazing journey with some of the best people," Koum, WhatsApp’s CE, said in a post on his Facebook page referring to cofounder Brian Acton. "But it is time for me to move on." He did not give a date for his departure and could not immediately be reached for comment. Acton left the messaging service company in September to start a foundation, after spending eight years with WhatsApp. Facebook CE Mark Zuck...
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