"This Business Uses a Secure Service From Meta" Meaning
You opened a chat with a company and WhatsApp added a line saying "This business uses a secure service from Meta to manage this chat". What does it mean, and is the chat still private?
It means the business runs its WhatsApp chats on the WhatsApp Business Platform Cloud API, hosted by Meta. Your messages are still delivered securely, but WhatsApp does not consider chats like this to be end-to-end encrypted. This guide explains what changes for you, which other labels exist, and what to do if you'd rather not chat this way.
What the label means
WhatsApp's help center says some businesses choose Meta, or another company, to securely store messages and respond to customers. When that happens, WhatsApp adds a system message to the chat. Which message you see depends on what the business chose:
| What the chat says | What it means |
|---|---|
| "This business uses a secure service from Meta to manage this chat." | The business uses the WhatsApp Business Platform Cloud API, hosted by Meta |
| "This business works with other companies to manage this chat." | The business uses a partner |
| "Messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted. Only people in this chat can read, listen to, or share them." | The business uses the WhatsApp Business app, or manages and stores customer messages itself |
Some people search for a slightly different line, "This business is now using a secure service from Meta". That exact wording isn't in WhatsApp's help center, so we can't quote a meaning for it. What the help center does say is that the encryption status of an end-to-end encrypted chat can't change without being visible to you, which is why a business that switches routes shows up as a new notice in the chat.
Is the chat still encrypted?
Every message, WhatsApp says, is protected by the same Signal encryption protocol before it leaves your device, and your message is delivered securely to the destination the business chose.
The catch is the label "end-to-end encrypted". WhatsApp considers messages end-to-end encrypted when they go directly between devices controlled by the people sending and receiving them. When a business uses these optional services, WhatsApp says it shows this clearly in the chat and does not consider the messages to be end-to-end encrypted. So the notice is the visible sign that the chat isn't counted as end-to-end encrypted. Chats with a business on the WhatsApp Business app are, by default, considered end-to-end encrypted by WhatsApp. Once any message reaches a business, though, it falls under that business's own privacy practices, and WhatsApp notes that a business may have employees or vendors respond and may use chats for its own marketing, including advertising on Meta.
What Meta does with these chats
WhatsApp states that Meta will not automatically use the messages you send a business to inform the ads you see. Businesses, however, can use the chats they receive for their own marketing purposes, including advertising on Meta.
There is a second, separate label. Some businesses use AI from Meta to help answer customers. In that case WhatsApp says it highlights "uses AI from Meta" under the business name, and Meta receives those chats to improve its AI quality.
For businesses using Meta's optional services, WhatsApp also says Meta uses automated systems to detect violations of its terms and policies, and may take action based on those business messages, including reporting account information and messages to authorities when required or permitted by law. It adds that this does not apply to your personal conversations, which always remain end-to-end encrypted.
What you can do as a customer
What you do next depends on what you were about to send:
- Keep chatting. The message is delivered securely, but treat it as a conversation with a company, not a private chat between two people.
- Share less. Leave out anything you'd only share in an end-to-end encrypted chat.
- Block the business. WhatsApp says that if you don't want to receive messages from a business, you can block it directly from the chat. On Android, open the chat, tap the business contact info and tap Block, then select the reason for blocking and tap Block again.
To check whether a contact is a business at all, tap or click the contact's name. A business profile is labelled as a WhatsApp Business account, and some carry a blue verified badge that means Meta verified the business.
If you run the business
The notice reflects a choice the business made: the WhatsApp Business app, a partner, or Meta's hosted Cloud API. If you're weighing those routes, read WhatsApp Business app vs API and what the WhatsApp API is. On the security side, how the WhatsApp API handles security goes further. Customers who see a changed-code notice instead should read what a changed security code means.
Where Tenashi fits
The notice is WhatsApp telling customers who handles their messages, and the same question applies to any tool a team uses to answer them. Meta's hosted Cloud API is one route for a business. Another is to keep your existing number on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app and let the team work it from linked devices.
Tenashi is that second kind. It connects your own existing number as a linked device by QR scan, the way WhatsApp Web does, and the phone stays the main device. It is not Meta's Business API and doesn't use the Cloud API. To give the team one shared inbox, Tenashi stores the messages your connected number sends and receives on its servers, from the day you connect it. That makes it the kind of vendor WhatsApp means when it says a business may have employees or other vendors process and respond to messages, so say so wherever you tell customers how you handle their data. More on running a team on one number in our guide to WhatsApp for business.
Plans start at $18/mo. Get started.
FAQ
What does "this business uses a secure service from Meta to manage this chat" mean?
It means the business uses the WhatsApp Business Platform Cloud API, hosted by Meta, to store messages and respond to customers. WhatsApp delivers your messages securely, but it does not consider these chats end-to-end encrypted, and it shows the notice so you can see that.
Is it safe to chat with a business on WhatsApp?
WhatsApp says every message is protected by the Signal encryption protocol before it leaves your device. After a business receives it, the business's own privacy practices apply. If you'd rather not share something, leave it out, or block the business from the chat.
Are chats with a business end-to-end encrypted?
It depends on the notice. WhatsApp considers chats with businesses on the WhatsApp Business app end-to-end encrypted by default. When a business uses Meta's hosted service or a partner, the chat shows that notice instead, and WhatsApp says it doesn't consider chats on these optional services end-to-end encrypted.
What does "this business works with other companies to manage this chat" mean?
It means the business chose a partner to manage the chat. Like the Meta label, it appears in the chat as a system message. WhatsApp explains that some businesses choose Meta or another company to securely store messages and respond to customers.
Will Meta use my messages to a business for ads?
WhatsApp says Meta will not automatically use the messages you send a business to inform the ads you see. It also says businesses can use the chats they receive for their own marketing, including advertising on Meta, so what you tell a business can still reach its marketing.
The label tells you how a business runs its chats, and you can decide what to share on that basis. If your own team needs to answer customers from the number you already have, get started with Tenashi.