WhatsApp, Facebook’s proprietary messenger who claims to have privacy encoded in its DNA, is giving its more than 2 billion users an ultimatum: agree to share their personal data with the social network or delete their accounts.
The requirement is being delivered via an in-app alert, directing users to agree to radical changes to WhatsApp’s terms of service. Those who do not accept the renewed privacy policy by February 8 will no longer be able to use the application.
Share and share the same way
Shortly after Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $ 19 billion in 2014, its developers incorporated end-to-end encryption into the messaging app. The move was seen as a victory for privacy advocates because it used the Signal Protocol, an open source encryption scheme whose source code was reviewed and audited by several independent security experts.
In 2016, WhatsApp gave users the unique ability to opt out of having their account data delivered to Facebook. Now, an updated privacy policy is changing that. Next month, users will no longer have that choice. Some of the data WhatsApp collects include:
- User phone numbers
- Other people’s phone numbers stored in address books
- Profile names
- Profile photos and
- Status message including when a user was last online
- Diagnostic data collected from application logs
Under the new terms, Facebook reserves the right to share the data collected with its family of companies.
“As part of the Facebook family of companies, WhatsApp receives and shares information from that family of companies,” says the new privacy policy. “We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information that we share with them to help operate, provide, improve, understand, personalize, support and market our Services and their offerings.”
In some cases, such as when someone uses WhatsApp to interact with third-party companies, Facebook can also share information with these external entities.
Lack of transparency
The move comes a month after Apple began demanding that iOS app makers, including WhatsApp, detail the information they collect from users. WhatsApp, according to the App Store, reserves the right to collect:
- Shopping
- Financial information
- Location
- Contacts
- User Content
- Identifiers
- Usage data and
- Diagnosis
A WhatsApp spokeswoman declined to speak openly about the changes and precisely how or if users are likely to opt for them. She agreed to send additional information via email on the condition that it is kept in the background, which means that none of the details can be quoted literally.
The move, the spokeswoman said, is part of a move previously released to allow companies to store and manage WhatsApp chats using Facebook’s infrastructure. Users will not need to use WhatsApp to interact with business and will have the option to block business. She said there will be no change in the way WhatsApp shares provide data with Facebook for non-commercial chats and account data.
Together, WhatsApp’s privacy policy and terms of service are over 8,000 words long and filled with legal jargon that makes it difficult for non-lawyers to understand. WhatsApp is providing a terrible service to its users by not agreeing to speak officially so that reporters can fully understand the changes and explain them to readers.
People who oppose the new terms and policy should consider using a different messenger. Signal Messenger provides the same robust encryption mechanism with a much more transparent privacy policy and terms of service. (These documents are half the length of WhatsApp’s as well.) In addition to providing encrypted chats, Signal also offers encrypted audio and video calls.
Updated post to add details from the third to the last paragraph.