One of the main objective of the WhatsApp update is to avoid third party apps reaching the user’s mobile number in a risky way.
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WhatsApp is to change its privacy policy so that businesses can message users in what looks to be a way for the company to open a potential revenue stream. It said those updates are needed to begin testing messaging features from businesses over the next several months. Not WhatsApp, not Facebook, nor anyone else’.
“B$3 y coordinating more with Facebook, we’ll be able to do things like track basic metrics about how often people use our services and better fight spam on WhatsApp”, the company said in today’s blog post.
The firms said the privacy policy change would help the social network better target adverts and suggest phone contacts as friends.
Now that the company is “part of the Facebook family”, the two organizations will work together to improve their services, fight spam across apps, make product suggestions and show “relevant offers and ads”, according to WhatsApp’s updated user terms.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said it is “looking into” the changes WhatsApp has made to its privacy policy with regard to the messaging app sharing user details with businesses. WhatsApp is giving users a limited time to opt out of sharing their information with Facebook, although they must take the extra step of unchecking a box to do so.
That means WhatsApp users could soon start seeing more targeted ads on Facebook – although not on the messaging service itself. WhatsApp has repeatedly noted, “respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA”. WhatsApp also promises that it won’t share your number with others (except Facebook of course), including on Facebook, nor will they share or sell your phone number to advertisers. That could include using WhatsApp to provide receipts, confirm a reservation or update the status of a delivery.
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WhatsApp phone numbers are valuable to Facebook.
