The co-founder and CEO of WhatsApp, the messaging service owned by Facebook, has announced plans to resign.
Jan Koum is stepping aside after disagreements over privacy and encryption. He also plans to leave the Facebook board of directors, which he has been part of since 2014.
In a Facebook post, Koum wrote: “It’s been almost a decade since Brian [Acton] and I started WhatsApp, and it’s been an amazing journey with some of the best people. But it is time for me to move on.”
“I’m taking some time off to do things I enjoy outside of technology, such as collecting rare air-cooled Porsches, working on my cars and playing ultimate frisbee. And I’ll still be cheering WhatsApp on – just from the outside.”
Facebook acquired Whatsapp in 2014 $19 billion (£13.8 billion). Zuckerberg also took to Facebook to thank Koum for his work.
“I’m grateful for everything you’ve done to help connect the world, and for everything you’ve taught me, including about encryption and its ability to take power from centralized systems and put it back in people’s hands,” he wrote.
According to the Washington Post, Koum left due to tensions over WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption, which ensures messages cannot be read by anyone outside of the conversation.
The top executives of the messaging service believed Facebook hoped to weaken the encryption in order to allow businesses to use their tools.
Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook’s privacy practices are under scrutiny.
Fellow WhatsApp founder Brian Acton has already shared his opinion on Facebook following the scandal. Following the news, he shared a #DeleteFacebook hashtag and wrote: “It is time. #deletefacebook.”
Acton left the company back in November.