For those of you who are concerned about security, you are not going to like WhatsApp’s latest update. According to WhatsApp, they have changed their terms and privacy policy to allow it to share data with Facebook, its parent company.
Don’t be too worried though, the update only allows WhatsApp to share your basic information with Facebook, and will not be made public. The information shared includes your phone number, profile name and photo, online status and status message, and last seen status. The content of your message will not be shared and will remain encrypted with end-to-end encryption. Facebook stresses that
“Your encrypted messages stay private and no one else can read them. Not WhatsApp, not Facebook, nor anyone else. We won’t post or share your WhatsApp number with others, including Facebook, and we still won’t sell, share or give your phone number to advertisers.”
The updated terms and privacy policy is to allow Facebook offer better friends suggests and to show users more relevant ads. For example, Facebook will show you ads from a company that you already deal with, rather than someone you’ve never heard of.
If you are still concerned, you can opt out though, there are a couple of steps involved. The first method is when you see the updated Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, tap on “Read”, scroll to the bottom of the screen and uncheck the option that asks for your permission for WhatsApp to share your information with Facebook.
Make sure you tap on the “Read” link
And uncheck the option to share information with Facebook
If you’ve already clicked on “Agree” without reading, you can still change it (only 30 days to do so). Just go to Settings, and under Account, uncheck “Share my account info”.
Check out WhatsApp to find out more about its latest update, see the FAQ about the updated Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, or find out how to opt out of this update.
