WhatsApp has introduced a number of updates to its privacy policy and T&Cs today, as the company revealed that it’s testing “ways for people to communicate with businesses in the months ahead” and will also be pushing users to share some of their account information with its parent company, Facebook. It also says Facebook won’t share the numbers with anyone else.
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WhatsApp phone numbers are valuable to Facebook.
The company stressed on the fact that a user’s “phone number will not be shared on Facebook or with third parties, nor will messages or any type of front-end you choose to share on WhatsApp”.
The move is WhatsApp’s first update to its privacy policy since it was acquired by Facebook in 2014. That could include using WhatsApp to provide receipts, confirm a reservation or update the status of a delivery. Users will, however, be able to opt out of sharing their details with Facebook. WhatsApp says it will continue to bar traditional display ads from its service.
WhatsApp may bang on about its “belief in the value of private communications” being “unshakeable”, but many of its users’ biggest fears may soon be realized as WhatsApp and Facebook get just a little too cozy for comfort. The company says Facebook will employ the phone number internally to better identify WhatsApp users on Facebook, so it can recommend friends or show targeted advertising.
“For example, if you sign up to your local flower shop’s mailing list using the same mobile phone number that you use for your WhatsApp account, and they decide to advertise on Facebook, you may see their ads on Facebook”, the spokesperson explained.
The privacy policy also says, “You agree to our data practices, including the collection, use, processing, and sharing of your information as described in our Privacy Policy, as well as the transfer and processing of your information to the United States and other countries globally where we have or use facilities, service providers, or partners, regardless of where you use our Services”.
The ads would come through a Facebook program called “Custom Audiences”, which lets a business upload lists of customers and phone numbers or other contact information the business has collected from warranty cards or other sources.
In case of undelivered messages, they will stay on WhatsApp’s servers for 30 days and will be deleted if not delivered at the end of that time period.
Wisely, Facebook has provided a way to opt-out of this – if it hadn’t done so, it could have faced an exodus from users electing to join one of its many rivals such as Telegram or Viber.
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Users will receive a WhatsApp notification on their app beginning Thursday evening, as the new features roll out worldwide, and can then choose how they want their data to be used. WhatsApp promises that encryption will remain, so neither WhatsApp nor Facebook would be able to use message content for advertising purposes.
