Cross-platform mobile messaging app WhatsApp has reached two billion users worldwide, up from 1.5 billion users by the end of 2017.
The Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp announced on Wednesday that it hit two billion users globally, gaining 500 million new customers of the past two years.
The company was founded in 2009 and was acquired by Facebook in 2014 in a deal valued at $19 billion, the largest acquisition to date by the social networking and technology company.
WhatsApp is known for its end-to-end encryption technology, which ensures that all contents in chats are secured by default. According to WhatsApp's blog posts, the technology ensures that even the company can't read messages or listen to calls that take place among the participants of conversations.
While the technology appeals to its users, it has drawn backlash across the globe due to security concerns.
In India, where WhatsApp dominates the messaging app market, the government has called for regulations granting it access to encrypted data. Similar legislation are being discussed in Australia and the United Kingdom.
WhatsApp announced: "We will not compromise on security because that would make people less safe. For even more protection, we work with top security experts, employ industry leading technology to stop misuse as well as provide controls and ways to report issues — without sacrificing privacy."
In October, an open letter was sent to Facebook by security ministers from the US, UK and Australia urging it to rethink its plans regarding message encryption. The security ministers argued that the Facebook message encryption policy is a threat to the "lives and the safety of our children".
However, Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp, said: “End-to-end encryption protects that right for over a billion people every day.”
Facebook also claimed that it is "consulting closely with child safety experts, governments and technology companies and devoting new teams and sophisticated technology" to keep people safe.
