Highlights:
- WhatsApp updated its Privacy Policy and issues an in-app notice to every user
- WhatsApp will now share users’ data with Facebook and other Facebook owned companies
- This step is in contrast with the 2014 promise made by Facebook when it acquired WhatsApp
WhatsApp, the messaging app which is owned by Facebook, has issued updated Privacy Policy and every user of the application received an in-app notification which stated that WhatsApp will now start sharing its users’ data with other companies owned by Facebook. With lack of privacy on WhatsApp, Elon Musk, Founder of Space X & Now the Richest Man of the World suggested Signal as WhatsApp alternative to his followers on Twitter.
This step from the company is in disarrangement with what it had promised back in 2014 during the acquisition from Facebook when WhatsApp assured its users that its goal is to know “as little as possible”.
While, until now, every user had the option to opt-out of sharing its data, from the 8th of February, the only solution any user will be left with of not sharing its data and being owned by Facebook will be to uninstall the application and stop using all of its services.
Also Read: WhatsApp Won’t Work on These iPhone and Android Phones in 2021
Amongst that information which WhatsApp will now be collecting and sharing will include:
- Location data
- IP addresses
- Model of the phone
- OS
- Battery level
- Signal strength
- Browser
- Mobile network
- Internet Service Provider (ISP)
- Language
- Time zone
- IMEI
Apart from the above mentioned info, WhatsApp will also share how you are messaging, calling, what groups you are attending, your Status, your profile photo, and also the last time you were online, etc.
WhatsApp has even added a separate section which is called “Transactions and Payments data” which specifies that the messaging platform will start processing additional information even for payments which will be made through the app.
Even though the company is claiming that it is curating this for the analytics purposes, however, it would provide its unique identifiers to other Facebook Companies.
The new Privacy Policy from WhatsApp has been rolled out globally, however, users who reside in the European Union received only a single bullet point in their notification of the updated Privacy Policy.
Thanks to the strict privacy legislation which is better known as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), users of WhatsApp is 27 European countries will not have their data shared with third parties.
