WHATSAPP TWEAKS PRIVACY POLICY TO SHARE MORE USER DATA WITH FACEBOOK
Bengaluru: WhatsApp’s new privacy policy, unveiled on Monday, enables the encrypted messaging app to share significantly more commercial user data with parent Facebook as the American social network aims to enhance business usage across group companies.
While personal chats between users will not be shared with Facebook, the revised privacy norms allows the sharing of data on business interactions across the group, reflecting Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s aggressive move to build a messaging commerce powerhous.
India accounts for 400 million of the 2 billion WhatsApp users globally. It is the first country for
WhatsApp to launch payments. It has received permission from Indian regulators to go live with 20 million users so far. India has 310 million users on Facebook, according to data platform Statista, which is the largest user base for the social network in a country.
WhatsApp said it automatically collects usage and log information, including status, group information and profile photo. It also collects device, connection, and location information automatically.
It cautioned users to “keep in mind that the content shared with a business on WhatsApp may be visible to several people in that business. In addition, some businesses might be working with third-party service providers (which may include Facebook) to help manage their communications with their customers”.
The blogpost directed users to review the business privacy policy to understand how their information is processed. The app said it requires businesses to act in accordance with the law when providing any information including to Facebook and other third-party service providers.
Data sharing between WhatsApp and Facebook have long attracted regulators’ attention across the world. In 2018, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) got WhatsApp to sign an undertaking in which it has committed publicly not to share personal data with Facebook in the future until the two services can do it in a way that is compliant with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
In 2017, the French data protection agency said WhatsApp did not have a legal basis to share user data under French law for “business intelligence” purposes. It said WhatsApp had violated its obligation to cooperate with CNIL and had not properly obtained users’ consent to begin sharing their phone numbers with Facebook.
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