“No difference between us and Signal:” WhatsApp counters rumors

Will Cathcart, WhatsApp's head, is trying to debunk claims that are circulating in the Netherlands about the platform’s data-collecting practices.

Last month, Meredith Whittaker, President of Signal, lashed out at WhatsApp’s data collection practices, suggesting that the messaging app collects too much sensitive metadata.

“It tells you exactly who you’re communicating with, at what time, how often, and where you are. You can derive so much from that. WhatsApp can link that information to Facebook, to Instagram and to payment data that they could buy into. Signal simply doesn’t have all that data,” she said.

Cathcart strongly objects to these claims. In a Zoom call with a handful of Dutch journalists last Tuesday, he said all kinds of wild rumors are currently circulating in the Netherlands regarding security and privacy on WhatsApp.

“We strongly believe in private communication,” Cathcart told Dutch news outlets like NU.nl and De Telegraaf. He explained that WhatsApp or Meta can’t view messages' content – only the sender and receiver can. To accomplish this, WhatsApp uses the same security protocol as Signal.

Dirk Brouwer, a Dutchman working as a technical executive at WhatsApp in the United States, told the journalists that WhatsApp doesn’t keep track with whom and when people communicate. He also said that WhatsApp doesn’t share location data and information about a user’s contacts.

WhatsApp does collect more metadata compared to Signal, like group names and the number of messages users have sent to businesses with a corporate WhatsApp account. This information however is needed to detect and fend off spam messages and attacks, Brouwer explained.

He told journalists that there’s no major exodus of people leaving WhatsApp in favor of Signal.

“Most Dutch people use WhatsApp. There’s not much room left for growth, but it is still happening,” Brouwer said.

European laws obligate major chat services to be able to send messages from one app to another. Cathcart said he would welcome other messaging apps to make this happen.

Whittaker has already stated that she’s concerned that Europe’s interoperability obligation will mess with Signal’s mission.

“Signal hasn’t been told to do anything so far. But if someone wants to link with us, they have to meet our privacy standards first. In any case, we are never going to lower our security,” she solemnly promised.