WhatsApp to share data with Facebook
WhatsApp - method 1
WhatsApp - method 2
Popular cross-platform messaging app WhatsApp announced yesterday that it would start sharing some user data with its parent company Facebook. This includes sharing your phone number. The two companies say the new policy will help its users (aka us) find friends and "improve our Facebook ads and products experiences". In other words, users of WhatsApp will start getting targeted ads based on their personal interest and preferences. To be honest, this move is something I expected ever since Facebook bought WhatsApp two years ago in 2014.What does this mean for you and me? To give a simple example, if you do decide to let WhatsApp share your personal information with Facebook, banks and airline companies can use your phone number to update you about banking transactions, flight status updates etc. Sounds good right?If it’s good, why should I opt out?I personally am not a huge fan of letting the Internet know what food I like, where I go, what I do, or who I am friends with. Well, that’s what Facebook is, you might say. But no one ever openly shares everything on Facebook. Giving the company access to my WhatsApp account would only open doors to that idea becoming reality. While WhatsApp has “promised” that it won’t sell or share personal our number with advertisers, I am skeptical.How do I opt out?There’s two ways to go about opting out. The first method is to opt out before you accept WhatsApp’s newly updated terms and conditions. At the bottom of the terms and conditions screen is a small note that says “Read more about the key updates to our terms and privacy policy” Tap this, then uncheck the checkboxBut if you’re like me and don’t have the patience to read through the entire terms of agreement (come on, who are you kidding? You never read through that. EVER.), worry not. You have 30 days after accepting the new terms to opt out. Go to Settings -> Account and turn off the ‘Share My Account Info’ button.Of course, in the unlikely event that you don’t have a Facebook account(yeah there’s actually people out there without a Facebook account, not playing Pokémon Go, and not watching Game of Thrones), the updated terms of service don’t you a whole lot since WhatsApp is sharing your number with just Facebook and not the individual companies themselves.Cheers,K