The head of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, took a long look at the future of the mobile application during an interview with French media

Les Échos

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The opportunity for him to come back to the quack that followed the announcement of the sharing of personal data of WhatsApp users with Facebook, as well as the threats of deletion of accounts or limitation of functionalities for those who would not accept the new social network policy.

Will Cathcart assured that WhatsApp did not want to exploit the personal data of its users, as well as Facebook whose involvement within the messaging application was limited to ensuring that the service is reliable.

The issue of WhatsApp monetization obviously came up, forcing the app manager to share his plans to ensure that the app generates revenue.

Will Cathcart recalled that a paid version already existed for companies.

WhatsApp Business enables efficient use of the app to better interact with customers.

A service particularly appreciated by companies that rely on a direct, fast and secure communication channel, according to the manager of the social network.

“It is a still modest source of income, but increasing.

It is very different from advertising, but it is very suitable for couriers, ”said the leader.

For how long ?

The arrival of stores within WhatsApp should also provide a new source of revenue for the messaging application.

This new functionality will indeed make it possible to carry out commercial transactions directly in the app.

It remains to be seen whether this will be sufficient to finance the development and maintenance of the application.

Advertising does not seem to be on the agenda yet, although the business model of its parent company Facebook is largely based on it.

"We are still not considering advertising," assured Will Cathcart.

This is good news for privacy-conscious users, because if advertising pops up within WhatsApp, there's a good chance that ad tracking will do too, as it does on Facebook.

In this case, the personal data of the users would be used to target advertising.

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