WhatsApp announces it has over 2 billion users now

WhatsApp has released a statement today (February 12, 2020) in which it claims to have amassed over 2 billion users. The service also asserts that it delivers "private conversations...through instant chats and video calling" to all of them. It does so through end-to-end encryption, which had been put in place within its systems in 2016.

This is the first such 10-figure uptake milestone WhatsApp has reached since 2017. In its new post on the subject, the company reiterated the data security with which its service is associated and its relevance to life in 2020. This, however, may be somewhat at odds with its current status as a Facebook-owned entity.

Its parent corporation has pushed measures that may have seen WhatsApp user data shared with it and other sibling companies such as Instagram in the past. In addition, Facebook has only just dropped efforts to introduce ads into this historically monetization-free app.

However, WhatsApp may have a better chance to make bank in the future - and almost literally, too: its new digital payments arm has recently secured approval to operate in its initial market, India.