WhatsApp, the popular instant messaging application owned by Meta, is reportedly working on a business indicator feature. The new indicator may appear in chats with certain businesses that created an ad on Facebook and Instagram.
“With the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.19.15 update, we discovered that the instant messaging app is now working on new indicators to make it evident when certain businesses chats collaborate with Meta,” WABetaInfo reported.
The screenshot shared by WABetaInfo showcases new arrows that indicates when certain business chats may share very limited information with Meta regarding specific interactions in the conversation, in order to enhance the user experience.
These services from Meta have been in use by some business accounts for quite some time to provide advanced solutions to users. “It appears that WhatsApp’s commitment is to make it more transparent to users when a business implemented these services by adding a message event to the conversation, along with an introduction screen,” the report said.
According to the report, the new indicator may appear in chats with certain businesses that created an ad on Facebook and Instagram, and when the Click-To-WhatsApp button is present.
“We don’t rule out the possibility that they may appear in other situations, such as when users submit feedback about a business or interact with an offer as mentioned in the screenshot, but it’s still too early to say,” WABetaInfo said.
When a business chat may share limited information with Meta, the Meta-owned app will always present a notice in the conversation by notifying users that Meta might receive some data. Users can choose if they want to proceed. It shows that interacting with these businesses is always optional.
The report also revealed that this indicator within some business chats does not imply that Meta can read shared messages in the conversation because messages are still end-to-end encrypted for chats with SMBs, making it impossible for anyone outside of the conversation to read such messages.
Messages with businesses that use cloud providers are still protected by a secure service from Meta or external companies, but they may have specific policies on how they manage user messages with the business. Users should always ask to the business their privacy practices.
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