WHATSAPP will now hand over user data to
its parent company – Facebook – marking a
monumental changer to its previous policies.
WhatsApp will now pass on users'
information to parent company Facebook.
The latest change – announced on the
official company blog – marks a dramatic
change for the hugely-successful messaging
service.
When the messenger was bought by
Facebook back in 2014, the founder assured
users their data would remain private –
separate from the social network.
"Respect for your privacy is coded into our
DNA, and we built WhatsApp around the goal
of knowing as little about you as possible,”
the privacy policy read.
Speaking during the acquisition, Facebook
founder Mark Zuckerberg said: "It would be
pretty stupid of us to interfere."
But that appears to have changed.
WhatsApp has announced a number of
changes to its terms and privacy policy – the
first in four years – that allows the chat app
to hand-over information to Facebook.
Under the new changes, Facebook is able to
see the phone number that people have
associated with their WhatsApp account.
That allows the US social network to link and
track profiles between the two services,
helping Facebook gather more data for its
advertisements.
WhatsApp claims the changes will make the
experience better for its users.
Actress Lily Collins and WhatsApp co-
founder Jan Koum speak onstage at the
2016 Breakthrough Prize
"By 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 explained on its blog.
"And by connecting your phone number with
Facebook's systems, Facebook can offer
better friend suggestions and show you more
relevant ads if you have an account with
them.
"For example, you might see an ad from a
company you already work with, rather than
one from someone you've never heard of."
The world's most popular messenger assured
users that its “belief in the value of private
communications is unshakeable, and we
remain committed to giving you the fastest,
simplest, and most reliable experience on
WhatsApp”.
WHATSAPP
Facebook is in control of the two most
popular mobile messaging apps, WhatsApp &
Facebook Messenger
Previously, the Electronic Frontier Foundation
called Facebook's targeting methods "the
most invasive in the world."
This latest move to siphon data from
WhatsApp to improve friend suggestions and
relevant ads will not help.
The news comes as Facebook (which has
previously conducted bizarre experiments on
its users) revealed the extensive list of
information it holds on users and uses to
match adverts with Facebook users.
The criteria ranges from the obvious – age,
hometown, school, friends – to the downright
bizarre.
For example, Facebook keeps a record of
when you've recently started a new
relationship, calculates how much money you
are likely to spend on your next car, tracks
what operating system you are using to login
to the social network, and more.
It will even track the types of credit cards you
have owned.
EmoticonEmoticon