TOBY SHAPSHAK: Next big privacy scandal looms at WhatsApp
Facebook’s 1.2bn-strong WhatsApp messaging service is likely to be at the centre of the next data debacle
It’s ironic that one of the people leading the #DeleteFacebook charge is Brian Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp, which was bought by Facebook for US$22bn in 2014. If you think the sum is eye-watering, consider last month’s tweet by Acton: "It is time. #deletefacebook." It must rank as one of the snidest comments from a founder. Now with a $7bn fortune, Acton is the 76th-richest person in the US, according to Forbes. He has invested $50m of that in the encrypted messaging app Signal, considered the most secure by many, including NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Buying WhatsApp was a smart play by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who realised the youth were deserting Facebook for messaging apps and the picture-sharing Instagram. Now with 1.2bn users, WhatsApp is a global messaging giant in its own right. And it is likely to be a nexus in Facebook’s ongoing privacy saga, which exploded with the Cambridge Analytica debacle. Facebook needs to make money from its service, and it appears to be ...
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