I used whatsapp before when I was on Malaysia since its their go to app for socials but I didnt like it compared to messenger of facebook. It seems theres so much suspicious on their apps. Probably due to their unfiltered system. I believe this app is a Chinese Product if Im not mistaken.
From the history of WhatsApp ownership, it has never belonged to a Chinese organisation that I'm aware of; both the developers were all American somehow, one of them is Ukrainian but later naturalised in California, and the other is also an American.
Currently WhatsApp is being owned by the same meta company (Facebook), which you prefer their messenger over WhatsApp. There have been some changes in the app, which they are somehow trying to integrate same idea that Meta shares with WhatsApp, but both spaces are not entirely scam-free.