14 DAY TRIAL // One of the reasons WhatsApp is such a popular messaging application is the fact that it uses end-to-end encryption of messages. But in August this year, WhatsApp announced that it would make the first change to its terms and privacy policy in four years, in order to share user phone numbers with Facebook.
The measure displeased many and got some users worried about how WhatsApp was handling the privacy of their personal data. WhatsApp explained that the measure would not affect the privacy of content that users share, since end-to-end encryption is still available inside the application and not even WhatsApp can see messages that users share.
Still, the measure displeased some government officials too. In September, the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information ordered Facebook to delete German user data shared from WhatsApp.
It seems that Facebook infringed the data protection law because the 35 million WhatsApp users in Germany didn’t actually provide effective approval for sharing their information.
But that’s not all, the Delhi High Court from India also ordered WhatsApp to delete data collected from users who opted out of the policy.
Apparently, WhatsApp has no intention to comply. And reportedly, WhatsApp intends to share user phone number, contacts, profile pictures, and even status messages with Facebook.
WhatsApp co-creators say WhatsApp doesn’t even know user names or gender
During the WSJ.D Live conference in California, WhatsApp co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton explained that WhatsApp remains committed to user privacy. Jan Koum said that WhatsApp doesn’t collect personal data, like the gender of users.
"We never asked our users for their names, for their gender, for their ages or where they live, so it's not like we're sitting on this wealth of information," Mr. Koum stated. They also added that the terms of service were updated in order to take advantage of Facebook’s spam-detection system.
The move made it easier for WhatsApp to generate revenue by allowing businesses to contact their customers and send various notifications, like fraudulent transactions or flight updates.
WhatsApp intends to reach the 2 billion user mark, but that may take some time. The two creators have mentioned that WhatsApp will offer more options for businesses next year.