UPDATE: The new privacy policy actually won't affect WhatsApp users who decided to stop sharing data with Facebook back when the option was available in 2016, the company told PCMag.
In other words, the company will continue to honor the opt out, even if you agree to the new policy. The opt-out status should be recorded in the download your data function, which can be found in the account settings tab.
Original story:
WhatsApp is indicating you'll soon have no choice but to share your data with company parent Facebook if you’d like to keep using the service.
The messaging app has published a new privacy policy, which takes effect on Feb. 8. “After this date, you’ll need to accept these updates to continue using WhatsApp,” the service has been telling users via an in-app alert that asks them to agree to the policy.
If you don't agree, the same alert subtly suggests you delete your account.
(Credit: WhatsApp)
The upcoming change will disappoint WhatsApp users who’d like to minimize the data collection from Facebook, a company that’s faced repeated privacy controversies. Back in 2016, WhatsApp allowed you to opt out of sharing the data when it came to powering ad targeting and “product experiences” for Facebook.
However, the opt-out came with a condition: you had to activate it within the first 30 days of signing up with the service. (Even if you did, WhatsApp could still share your account data with Facebook for the purposes of “operating and providing” the messaging service.)
The new privacy policy for WhatsApp offers no such opt-out. It's also unclear if WhatsApp intends to resume the data-sharing for users who previously activated the opt out. We've asked Facebook for comment, and we'll update the story if we hear back.
In the meantime, the new policy goes on to specify what kind of information it can collect and also share with Facebook and its subsidiary companies. The data includes the phone number for your WhatsApp account, profile name and photo, who you’ve been communicating with, and the financial transactions you’ve made over the app.
“We share your information to help us operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our services,” WhatsApp adds in the privacy policy. The will include sending you friend recommendations, personalizing content, and showing relevant ad offers across Facebook's various products.
Despite the new policy, Facebook told PCMag the policy update is mainly concerned with business messaging. So in practice, there's no change in what data is shared with Facebook for non-business chats and account information, the social network said.
Specifically, the updated policy is designed to address messaging a business over WhatsApp. Facebook is going to give businesses the option to use Facebook’s secure hosting infrastructure to host WhatsApp chats if they don’t wish to store the messages over their own systems.
In addition, Facebook said the choice to opt out of the data sharing originally occurred back in 2016 as one-time option. Since then, the feature hasn't existed in the app for new users. Nevertheless, the opt out choice was mentioned in WhatsApp's older privacy policy for the past four years. Only now is the service finally removing the language after embarking on a robust global privacy policy update, the company told PCMag.
The new policy arrives as Facebook has been working to integrate WhatsApp with the rest of the company's messaging ecosystem. However, messages sent over the service will remain end-to-end encrypted, meaning neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can read them.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to clarify Facebook's statements.
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