Messaging applications play a significant role in our day-to-day communication. Users utilize them for everything ranging from contacting family to business discussions, sharing sensitive information, and making voice and/or video calls. Because of these issues, users now consider both privacy and security when selecting a digital communication platform.

The significance of these features has increased since the WhatsApp false advertising inquiry related to claims about end-to-end encryption and privacy protections. While the inquiry is still ongoing, it has led to a larger conversation about messaging platforms' communication of their privacy policies and practices for users.

The technology industry has been utilizing end-to-end encryption as one of the most advertised security elements. End-to-end encryption (E2E) is a fairly straightforward concept; the sender's device encrypts the message and only the recipient's device can decrypt it. This means that no third parties can access the content of the message while it is being sent from its initial sender to its intended recipient.

For many individuals, having an end-to-end encryption on a messaging platform gives that individual an expectation that his/her conversation will remain private when being discussed. For example, if someone were to discuss private information, financial information, business communications, or medical information, they tend to rely on messaging platforms based on their understanding of the privacy policies and practices provided on those platforms.

Why Transparency Is Increasingly Important

The more advanced digital services become, the more users rely on privacy policies, product descriptions, and marketing materials to guide their understanding of how their information will be processed by organizations. Clear communication regarding security features and measures supports consumers in making informed choices about what services they want to use.

For many years, privacy advocates have called for the technology industry to provide simple explanations of:

- How messages will be protected
- What customer data will be collected
- How customer data will be stored
- Whether customer data will be shared with any third parties
- What security features are in place for customer data

When statements related to privacy do not provide a clear or simple description, it becomes difficult for users to accurately determine whether or not they are adequately protected by an organization’s platform.

The Growing Focus on Digital Privacy

In recent years, there has been a growing concern among consumers, regulators and lawmakers regarding online privacy issues due to the increasing volume of personal information that is processed via digital services on a daily basis.

A modern messaging application may collect and utilize many types of information in addition to the contents of your messages. Examples of data types include:

Account registration information,
Device-related information,
Contact information,
Usage patterns, and
Connection information,
Security-related metadata.

As consumers gain more knowledge about these practices some consumers are starting to pay more attention to how companies describe the protections they have in place.

Finding the right balance between innovation and user expectations

Technology companies face a challenge to provide consumers with a convenient, rich-featured communication tool while creating and maintaining strong security standards. For example, although having the ability to create a cloud-based backup of your messages, access your messages on multiple devices, eliminate spam from your inbox and recover lost accounts will enhance the consumer experience, these features may lead some consumers to question how their data is being handled with respect to privacy.

This ongoing pressure to innovate while safeguarding consumer privacy typifies the entire technology industry. Companies must adopt security processes while providing consumers with a clear understanding of what those processes entail and how the consumer can reasonably expect those processes to be followed.

The Future of Privacy

While the future of messaging platforms remains uncertain, it appears that privacy will continue to be one of the primary issues affecting them over the next several years. As people rely more heavily on digital communication in their daily lives (in both personal and professional contexts), they will want to use products and services that provide an element of safety, visibility, and trust.

The existence of investigations into companies' privacy-related representations can spur discussion about Companies' accountability to consumers, their duty to be accountable to consumers, and consumers' expectations of privacy. No matter how a specific investigation might conclude, the fact that digital privacy continues to be a topic of conversation highlights the importance of trust as one of the most valuable assets any technology can carry with it.