Vienna, Austria – June 18, 2025: A stark warning is being issued to WhatsApp’s billions of users: prepare for targeted advertising directly within your chats, powered by your personal data from across Meta's empire. Privacy rights organization noyb (none of your business) is urging users to consider switching messaging apps immediately, calling the move a fundamental betrayal of WhatsApp’s original promise.
The alarm bells were sounded after code within recent WhatsApp updates revealed concrete preparations for injecting ads into the app’s main interface, specifically within the Status tab and potentially the Chats list. Crucially, noyb asserts these ads won't be generic; they will leverage the vast trove of personal data Meta collects from its users on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp itself.
"This isn't just about seeing ads for shoes next to your aunt's holiday photos," said Max Schrems, Honorary Chairman of noyb. "It's about WhatsApp completing its transformation into a Meta surveillance tool. They plan to use everything they know about you from all their apps – your interests, your relationships, your location, your purchases – to target you within the app that was once synonymous with private communication."
The Core Issue: Blurred Lines and Broken Promises?
WhatsApp famously launched with a strong focus on user privacy and a no-ads policy, a key factor in its massive global adoption. Its acquisition by Facebook (now Meta) in 2014 raised immediate concerns, which were initially somewhat assuaged by promises about independence and maintaining core principles. However, gradual changes – including controversial privacy policy updates forcing data sharing with Facebook – have eroded that trust.
noyb argues that introducing ads using cross-app personal data represents the final step in dismantling WhatsApp's original privacy ethos. The organization points out that while WhatsApp chats remain end-to-end encrypted (meaning Meta can't see the content), the company harvests extensive metadata: who you talk to, how often, for how long, your phone number, device information, location (if shared), and crucially, data shared willingly by users on Instagram and Facebook.
Legal Action Looming?
noyb, known for its successful challenges against tech giants under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is not mincing words. They state that Meta's plan likely violates several GDPR principles, including purpose limitation (using data for advertising when users signed up for a messaging service) and fairness.
"Users signed up for a messaging app, not an ad platform profiling them across the internet," Schrems stated. "Merging data from Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp for advertising within WhatsApp is likely illegal. We are preparing to file complaints the moment the first ad based on this cross-app profiling appears."
What Should Users Do? The "Switch Now" Call
Given Meta's clear trajectory, noyb is taking the unusual step of proactively urging users to abandon WhatsApp before the ad rollout becomes widespread. Their core message is blunt: "Switch now."
Learn more about noyb's analysis and their call to action: WhatsApp getting ads using personal data (Instagram and Facebook)
"The window for a clean exit is closing," a noyb spokesperson added. "Once these ads are fully integrated and Meta starts heavily promoting WhatsApp's 'new features', the inertia for many users will be significant. If you value privacy and dislike being profiled across apps, now is the time to explore alternatives."
Alternative Messengers
noyb highlights privacy-focused alternatives like Signal and Telegram (particularly its "Secret Chats") as viable options. These apps generally have stronger privacy commitments, offer end-to-end encryption by default (Signal), and crucially, do not rely on targeted advertising based on cross-app profiling as their business model.
Meta's Response (or Lack Thereof)
Meta has not yet issued a formal public statement addressing noyb's specific claims about the imminent ad rollout using cross-app data. Historically, the company has defended its data practices as compliant with regulations and necessary for providing "relevant" experiences and funding free services.
The Bottom Line
The warning from noyb is clear and urgent: WhatsApp, as users knew it, is effectively over. Targeted advertising, fueled by intimate knowledge gleaned from your activity across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp itself, is coming directly into the app. For privacy-conscious users, the organization's advice is simple: don't wait for the ads to hit your screen – switch to a more private messenger today. The era of WhatsApp being a simple, ad-free haven appears to be ending.
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