WhatsApp could soon be displaying personalized advertisements.
A Facebook project is fueling the rumor mill.
Encrypted data should be analyzed.
California (USA) - Facebook took over the WhatsApp messaging service in 2014.
This cost the company from Mark Zuckerberg an impressive 19 billion US dollars.
Since WhatsApp has now waived a usage fee, a rumor has been circulating for a long time that new monetary sources are to be tapped.
Specifically, the point is that Facebook * wants to refinance the deal from 2014 by showing advertisements on WhatsApp.
The
rumors are intensifying
through a report in the US technology magazine
The Information
.
Facebook is said to have already put together a team of researchers who are concerned with how encrypted data can be analyzed - without the encryption having to be lifted for this purpose.
WhatsApp with advertising: Facebook supposedly wants to place personalized ads on Messenger
The magazine speculates that Facebook could use a special technology to ultimately display advertising in WhatsApp that is tailored to the user.
It is currently not possible to display targeted advertising.
This is because WhatsApp encrypts all messages end-to-end.
The messenger itself does not recognize the content either.
At the request of
The Information
, Facebook would have generally confirmed the project, but denied the advertising plans.
WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart has also spoken out in the meantime.
Via Twitter, he announces that the messenger does not intend to use the technology:
We're not pursuing homomorphic encryption for @WhatsApp.
I've been asked this before (link below).
We should be skeptical of technical claims that apps like ours could see messages in "good" cases only.
That's just not how technology works.
https://t.co/Y55p25QmR8 https://t.co/mZgNYyorkm
- Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) August 3, 2021
With this so-called homomorphic encryption it is possible to carry out calculations with encrypted data without having to decrypt them.
A process that is extremely attractive, especially for tech companies like Facebook.
Because user data can be commercialized even better in this way, data protection is increased even further.
Homomorphic encryption is still in its infancy: Facebook is further developing special technology
The catch with homomorphic encryption: it only works if this method is used for data that is already being examined in unencrypted form for advertising purposes.
At the moment, however, the technology is still in its infancy.
That is why Facebook is already researching further development itself.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp is making a name for itself with a new photo function - the advantages of which are offset by some disadvantages.
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