WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using the app

[Karlston]

WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using the app

The Facebook-owned messenger with 2 billion users revamps its privacy policy.

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WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messenger that claims to have privacy coded into its DNA, is giving its 2 billion plus users an ultimatum: agree to share their personal data with the social network or delete their accounts.

 

The requirement is being delivered through an in-app alert directing users to agree to sweeping changes in the WhatsApp terms of service. Those who don’t accept the revamped privacy policy by February 8 will no longer be able to use the app.

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Shortly after Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, its developers built state-of-the-art end-to-end encryption into the messaging app. The move was seen as a victory for privacy advocates because it used the Signal Protocol, an open source encryption scheme whose source code has been reviewed and audited by scores of independent security experts.

 

Until now, WhatsApp allowed users to opt out of having account data turned over to Facebook. Now, an updated privacy policy is changing all that. Come next month, users will no longer have that choice. Some of the data that WhatsApp collects includes:

• User phone numbers
• Other people’s phone numbers stored in address books
• Profile names
• Profile pictures and
• Status message including when a user was last online
• Diagnostic data collected from app logs

Under the new terms, Facebook reserves the right to share collected data with its family of companies.

 

“As part of the Facebook family of companies, WhatsApp receives information from, and shares information with, this family of companies,” the new privacy policy states. “We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them, to help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services and their offerings.”

 

In some cases, such as when someone uses WhatsApp to interact with third-party businesses, Facebook may also share information with those outside entities.

A lack of transparency

The move comes a month after Apple started requiring iOS app makers, including WhatsApp, to detail the information they collect from users. WhatsApp, according to the App Store, reserves the right to collect:

• Purchases
• Financial information
• Location
• Contacts
• User content
• Identifiers
• Usage data and
• Diagnostics

A WhatsApp spokeswoman declined to speak on the record about the changes and precisely how or if it’s possible for users to opt out of them. She agreed to email additional information on the condition it be kept on background, meaning none of the details can be quoted verbatim. Those details will be paraphrased in an update once the email arrives.

 

Together, the WhatsApp privacy policy and terms of service are more than 8,000 words long and are filled with legal jargon that makes it difficult for non-lawyers to understand. WhatsApp is doing its users a disservice by not agreeing to speak on the record so that reporters can fully understand the changes and explain them to readers.

 

People who object to the new terms and policy should consider using a different messenger. The Signal messenger provides the same robust encryption engine with a much more transparent privacy policy and terms of service. (Those documents are half the length of those from WhatsApp, too.) Besides providing encrypted chats, Signal also offers encrypted audio and video calls.

 

 

WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using the app

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After WhatsApp updated its Privacy Policy and Terms of Service on Monday with additional info on how it handles users' data, the company is now notifying users through the mobile app that, starting February, they will be required to share their data with Facebook.

 

"Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA," the company said earlier this week. "Since we started WhatsApp, we've built our Services with a set of strong privacy principles in mind."

 

However, despite its focus on users' privacy, WhatsApp is now giving its users a harsh ultimatum, with only three options available: to accept sharing their data with Facebook, to stop using the app altogether, or to delete their accounts.

 

No option but to accept having your data shared

 

The new updates are definitely a 180-degree turn when compared with last year's privacy policy, enforced starting with July 2020, which says that users are able to choose not to have their WhatsApp account info shared with Facebook to improve your the company's ads and products.

 

With the new changes to the policy, users will now be forced to accept sharing their data with Facebook to continue using their account or, as an alternative, delete their accounts as WhatsApp says.

 

"By tapping AGREE, you accept the new terms and privacy policy, which take effect on February 8, 2021," WhatsApp's notification says.

 

"After this date, you'll need to accept these updates to continue using WhatsApp. You can also visit the Help Center if you would prefer to delete your account and would like more information."

 

 

Several Facebook companies to access collected data

 

This week's privacy policy updates, however, also state that WhatsApp will now share the users' data with the other 'Facebook Companies' — this will happen even if the users do not have a Facebook account and have never used Facebook before.

 

Facebook companies that will gain access to WhatsApp users' data once the new policy changes take effect in February include Facebook, Facebook Payments, Onavo, Facebook Technologies, and CrowdTangle.

 

"We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them, to help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services and their offerings, including the Facebook Company Products," WhatsApp explains.

 

"The information we share with the other Facebook Companies. includes your account registration information (such as your phone number), transaction data, service-related information, information on how you interact with others (including businesses) when using our Services, mobile device information, your IP address, and may include other information identified in the Privacy Policy section entitled ‘Information We Collect’ or obtained upon notice to you or based on your consent."

 

Information collected by WhatsApp from its users also includes location data, payment information, as well as device diagnostics data.

 

After Facebook companies gain access to WhatsApp user data, they will use it for:

 

helping improve infrastructure and delivery systems

understanding how our Services or theirs are used

promoting safety, security and integrity by securing systems and fighting spam, threats, abuse, or infringement activities

improving services and user experiences

providing integrations to connect WhatsApp experiences with other Facebook Company Products

While WhatsApp previously allowed users to download collected account information, the company was forced to provide additional information on how its apps' are handling user data starting with December 2020, after Apple started requiring it from all applications listed on its App Store.

 

At the moment, the Apple App Store privacy labels on WhatsApp Messenger's entry says that the app is collecting and linking the following type of data to its users' profiles:

 

 

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[Karlston]

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