WhatsApp recently gave an interview with Marketing Week about the launch of its first global brand campaign, which is focused on highlighting how seriously it takes user privacy and educating users on how its service keeps messages private.
The education campaign has been created because of the reaction from its users about the change to WhatsApp’s terms of service in January. Many believed this meant WhatsApp would be sharing users’ sensitive data with Facebook which was not accurate.
The reaction from users to changes in terms and conditions around privacy, as well as the response to Apple’s IDFA updates shows the importance of privacy in today’s world and how seriously businesses should take communications on this issue.
We are reaching a tipping point where businesses must take transparent responsibility for their approach to data and keeping people safe. Privacy-centric practices are essential, and businesses are a target for criticism if the people using their online services are not explicitly aware of the amount of data that is shared about them, and with whom.
The days of relying on lengthy terms and conditions are over – clear communication to ensure users understand how their data is being used is critical, alongside marketing that demonstrates trust, credibility, and responsibility in this area.
Last week news broke that The Irish Council for Civil Liberties is suing a branch of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and others over what it describes as “the world’s largest data breach”. While this case will dig into how real-time bidding works, it shows that every company must have easy-to-understand explanations as to what data they have access to, what they are doing with it and why they have it.
With data as the engine behind many tech companies, being able to explain privacy-conscious decisions without jargon is only going to become increasingly important to ensure trust and advocacy from users.{
WhatsApp is launching its first global campaign to show its 2 billion users their data is safe, after causing “confusion” with the release of a privacy update, which caused many users to uninstall the app.
