WhatsApp, the popular messaging app is getting more serious. The company is pilot testing the idea of verifying accounts for select businesses, according to the WhatsApp web page.
Businesses that make the cut will get a big green checkmark icon which, in theory, means they are who they say they are. Well, more accurately, it means that the phone number they provide to WhatsApp belongs to a business. It was unclear if any other verification processes will be used.
But, according to WhatsApp, conversations with a verified account holder cannot be deleted. Interestingly, one of WhatsApp’s biggest selling points to date is that privacy-obsessed users can vaporize their chats so there is no trace.
