The messenger app owned by Facebook offers WhatsApp its 2 billion plus users an ultimatum: agree to share their personal data with the social network or delete their accounts. Full story
Arstechinca
WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messenger that claims to have encrypted privacy in its DNA, is giving its users $ 2 billion plus an ultimatum: agree to share their personal data with the social network or delete their accounts.
The requirement is met through an in-app alert that prompts users to agree to the comprehensive changes to the terms of service of WhatsApp. Those who do not accept the revamped privacy policy by February 8 can no longer use the app.
In 2016, WhatsApp gave users the one-time opportunity to prevent account data from being transferred to Facebook. An updated privacy policy is changing that now. Come next month, users will no longer have the choice. Some of the data that WhatsApp collects includes:
User phone numbers
Other people’s phone numbers stored in address books
Profile name
Profile Photos and
Status message, including when a user was last online
Diagnostic data collected from app logs
Under the new terms, Facebook reserves the right to share the collected data with its family of companies.
“As part of the Facebook family of businesses, WhatsApp receives information from, and shares information with, this family of companies,” reads the new privacy policy. “We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them to help operate, deliver, improve, understand, adapt, support and market our Services and their offerings.”
The move comes a month after Apple began demanding iOS app makers, including WhatsApp, to disclose the information they collect from users. According to the App Store, WhatsApp reserves the right to: