WhatsApp is the world’s most popular messaging service, with around two billion users exchanging texts, photos, videos and documents, and making voice and video calls.
The app offers end-to-end encryption, meaning messages can only be read by the sender and the recipient(s). Not even WhatsApp can read them. Updates to its privacy policy in 2021 reportedly caused millions of users to leave the app. But the new policy was widely misinterpreted: it only related to WhatsApp’s business features, not to personal messages.
In the guide below, you'll find tips on a number of potential risks such as stranger danger, live location sharing and disappearing messages.