Users can opt out WhatsApp sharing info to Facebook

Aug 25, 2016 16:23 GMT  ·  By

In a blog post, WhatsApp announced that it will be sharing user phone numbers with Facebook, including separate numbers. The measure was taken in order to enable more targeted advertising on the network and fight spam.

The blog post explains how WhatsApp will go about this new measure. Specifically, if both Facebook and WhatsApp are installed on the same device, then Facebook will be granted permission to pull up phone numbers associated with WhatsApp through the device identifier.

Because this measure would pose some security and privacy concerns, WhatsApp also announced that it updated its term and privacy policy. This is the first update that the terms and privacy policy gets in four years. WhatsApp will soon export data to Facebook, so that it could capitalize on some revenue that would advertise to users.

With this measure, WhatsApp would avoid third-party banner ads and spam. WhatsApp clearly stated that this measure wouldn't affect the privacy of content that users share, as it integrated the Signal messaging protocol and messages are protected with end-to-end encryption.

WhatsApp also mentioned that “We won’t post or share your WhatsApp number with others, including on Facebook, and we still won't sell, share, or give your phone number to advertisers.” The coordination with Facebook, would allow the messaging app to track basic metrics on how often people use their services and fight spam. In addition, Facebook will be able to offer better friend suggestions and show relevant ads to users.

WhatsApp gives users 30 days to opt out from sharing their number with Facebook

This announcement will surely annoy some users, as WhatsApp is known as one of the applications that are committed to user privacy, in such a way that it even caused issues with law enforcement in Brazil, as the app was temporarily banned in July.

There is a way to opt out WhatsApp from sharing user information with Facebook. When users are presented with the new terms and conditions in the updated WhatsApp, they simply need to tap on Read and not Agree. A box at the bottom of the screen asks users permission to share information with Facebook. They simply need to uncheck it.

If users agreed to the measure, they simply need to go to Settings, then Account and uncheck the box that says Share my account info. This needs to be done in 30 days time after agreeing with the new measure.