The One Question to Ask

I have been thinking: if there were one question I could ask parents to make them reconsider using WhatsApp for parent communication, what would it be?

I can write or talk extensively, providing data and sharing concerns, but there is always the risk of overwhelming people or the core message getting lost. In a brief conversation, how would I get the message across in the simplest manner? The best approach would be to let people reach their own conclusion — through a single, well-framed question.

After some thinking, this would be my starter question:

Do you trust Meta, the owner of WhatsApp, to respect the privacy of you and your family?

This isn’t only about current users of WhatsApp, but also about non-users, including our children who haven’t even started using it yet.

If you want to learn more about how WhatsApp could be tracking our children, I would refer you to another article I wrote: How can WhatsApp be tracking our children already?.

Even if I’m wrong about how Meta profiles our children, one question remains: do you trust them not to?