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WhatsApp will shortly begin to share your data with Facebook as a condition for using the application. This completes a U-turn that began when Facebook first acquired the app in 2014.
At the time, WhatsApp assured users that their data would remain private and would not be shared with Facebook …
Background
Shortly after WhatsApp was sold to Facebook for $ 19 billion, the messaging app gave the piece of mind in a blog post.
There has also been a lot of inaccurate and sloppy information circulating about what our future partnership would mean for the data and privacy of WhatsApp users. I would like to make things clear […]
Respect for your privacy is encoded in our DNA, and we created WhatsApp with the goal of knowing as little about you as possible. […] If partnering with Facebook meant that we had to change our values, we would not have. Instead, we are forming a partnership that would allow us to continue to operate independently and autonomously. Our core values and beliefs will not change. Our principles will not change.
The first part of the U-turn came in 2016, when WhatsApp started sharing data with Facebook by default.
By coordinating more with Facebook, we will be able to do things like track basic metrics on how often people use our services and better combat spam on WhatsApp. And by connecting your phone number with Facebook’s systems, Facebook can offer better friend suggestions and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them.
However, at that time, existing users could choose not to share the data.
If you are already a user, you can choose not to have your WhatsApp account information shared with Facebook to improve your Facebook ads and product experiences. Existing users who agree to our updated Terms and Privacy Policy will have an additional 30 days to make this choice by going to Settings> Account.
WhatsApp to share your data with Facebook as a condition of use
The upcoming changes to the privacy policy of the messaging app remove the opt-out option, as detected by XDA Developers.
WhatsApp users today receive an in-app notice about the service’s new terms and privacy policy. The notice, as you can see in the attached screenshot, talks about three key updates that affect the way WhatsApp processes your data, how businesses can use Facebook-hosted services to store and manage their WhatsApp chats, and how WhatsApp It will soon partner with Facebook to offer deeper integrations across all of the latter’s products. In addition, it reveals that these changes will take effect on February 8, and users will have no choice but to accept these changes if they want to continue using WhatsApp.
Among other things, your data will now be used to display personalized ads.
Improve your services and your experiences using them, such as making suggestions for yourself (for example, from friends or group connections, or interesting content), personalizing features and content, helping you complete purchases and transactions, and displaying relevant offers and advertisements on Facebook company products.
You can read all the details here.
However, WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption for all messages (text, voice and video), so you cannot view or use the content of your messages or calls. To update: The new privacy policy also does not apply in Europe due to the stricter privacy legislation there.
The news follows an article that highlights the vastly different amounts of information tied to user identities by four messaging apps: Signal, iMessage, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. This was revealed by Apple requiring applications to disclose the personal data they collect and specify the ways it is used.
Photo: Rachit Tank on Unsplash
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