WhatsApp To Share User Data With Facebook For Ad Targeting

HIGHLIGHTS

• WhatsApp is to start handing over user information to parent company Facebook

• Facebook will be able to see the phone number that people use with their WhatsApp account

WhatsApp is to start handing over user information to parent company Facebook , in a huge reversal of its previous policies.

The company has long been committed to ensuring that WhatsApp user data remains private – telling users when it was acquired by Facebook that “Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA, and we built WhatsApp around the goal of knowing as little about you as possible”.

But it has just announced that it will be making a change to those policies.

The changes to the terms and conditions allow Facebook to see the phone number that people use with their WhatsApp account. That gives them a way of tracking people that is shared across the two sites, helping Facebook gather data for ads.

WhatsApp says that the change has been made to help make the experience better for its users. But it might be a sign that the panic that set in with many people when Facebook bought WhatsApp – that private information and messages are going to be used for ads, which is Facebook’s primary business.

The company assured its 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 “.