WhatsApp recently updated its Privacy Policy back in January. The new privacy policy led to confusions for many. If you are one of those who still don’t know what new changes have been made to the privacy policy, then continue reading. We will explain everything about WhatsApp’s New Privacy Policy update. We will also tell you how you can still use WhatsApp without caring too much about your data being stolen by third parties, so let’s get started.
The changes in privacy policy received a lot of backlashes and it didn’t go as expected for WhatsApp. A lot of people started uninstalling WhatsApp and started using other apps such as Telegram & Signal. Within a few days of a span, Signal and Telegram began to gain downloads, and a large number of the WhatsApp user base had already uninstalled WhatsApp.
Does WhatsApp share your data with other Facebook Products?
Before moving on, you should know that other Facebook products include Facebook, Facebook Messenger & Instagram.
The answer to this question is YES. Another interesting thing is, WhatsApp didn’t start sharing your data with other Facebook companies recently, but it has been doing it since as back as 2016.
Not only that WhatsApp has also stated in their privacy policy that they might also share the data with other third-party service providers. So this could be a serious concern.
Can you opt-out of the data shared with Facebook companies?
According to the old June 2020 WhatsApp privacy policy update, you could opt-out of it. You could either let WhatsApp share your data with other Facebook companies or not. It was up to you. Meaning you had control over your data.
But with a recent policy update, now there is no such opt-out button found in the app. Meaning, your information and data are now shared with other Facebook companies even if you don’t want it to be shared.
Understanding Facebook’s Business Model
Before knowing whether WhatsApp collects or shares our personal information or not, we need to understand why would they have to do it?
Well, Facebook runs on a business model and that is to show ads to the relevant people. Facebook charges the advertiser to show ads relevant to the people who might be interested in buying that product.
You might have seen an ad for a product you discussed with your friends on Facebook messenger. This is how Facebook’s business model runs and this is how they earn money.
Does WhatsApp read your message?
No, WhatsApp by any means cannot read messages you send to people on WhatsApp including voice and video calls as well. This is because of the fact that WhatsApp uses end to end encryption system. This system basically won’t allow anyone even WhatsApp except the sender or receiver to read the content of the message. This gives a big sigh of relief at least for those who love using WhatsApp on their smartphones.
If we compare WhatsApp with other messaging services such as Facebook and Instagram messenger, WhatsApp is still in fact, would be a better choice due to the end-to-end encryption it comes with. The rest of the two simply don’t have any end-to-to encryption. Meaning your privacy could be compromised and your messages could be read by Facebook or Instagram due to lack of end-to-end encryption.
With that being said, the question that arises here is, if WhatsApp doesn’t read your chat or messages, then how it could be of help to other Facebook products. Let’s find it out below.
What Other Data/ Information does WhatsApp Collect Then?
If the WhatsApp chats are end-to-end encrypted and the content of the messages cannot be read, then why and WhatsApp isn’t charging money for using their services?
The data that can be shared on Facebook from WhatsApp includes a lot of things. Almost every information except a few things is shared with Facebook and their other services.
Here are all the things that WhatsApp can monitor and share with Facebook and its related products.
- Type of mobile phone
- Operating system
- Battery life
- Signal strength
- Time zone
- IP Address
- Profile picture
- Status in the form of image, video and text
- Your name and about on WhatsApp
- Your contact list, their profile picture and about
Apart from getting all information enlisted above, WhatsApp also monitor your messages sent using WhatsApp for Business app. Here’s how.
Does end-to-encryption work on WhatsApp Business?
No, this is also a serious issue and people are criticising WhatsApp heavily for their decision of not using end-to-end encryption on WhatsApp Business conversation. So remember next time when you talk with someone or asked a query about something on WhatsApp business, there is no more guarantee that your messages are secured. However, your conversations are secured on the regular WhatsApp.
So we strongly recommend you to not share any personal/ sensitive information to any WhatsApp Business account for any purpose, anyhow. your privacy could be highly compromised as there is no end-to-end encryption on WhatsApp Business.
Can I decline WhatsApp new privacy policy update?
No, now you won’t be able to do so.
When WhatsApp rolled out the new policy update, the message would pop up on WhatsApp stating about the new privacy policy update. Users had been given time until Feb 8 to either accept the new privacy update or otherwise simply stop using WhatsApp.
This period however recently got updated and now WhatsApp is letting users use WhatsApp until May 15 of this year. If anyone doesn’t accept the new privacy policy after the 15th of May, he won’t be able to use WhatsApp anymore.
Few tips for using WhatsApp after new privacy policy update
We have shared everything you needed to know about WhatsApp’s new policy update. We strongly recommend you to not share any sensitive information on WhatsApp business. On the other hand, your chats are secured with end-to-end encryption on regular WhatsApp account.
If you are still concerned about the new policy update and think you are not in safe hand, then don’t use WhatsApp at all. But for those who can’t stop using WhatsApp and still want to use it in a safer way, worry not we will tell you some tips using for using WhatsApp to be on a safer side.
Tips for using WhatsApp safely after new privacy policy update
- Rename your WhatsApp profile with a dot or some signs
- Remove your status and put a dot or some emoji
- Remove your profile picture
- Don’t use WhatsApp Business at all, or if you use, don’t share any personal/ banking details with anyone even with the business you are dealing with.
- Use other apps such as Signal or Telegram that emphasise more regarding the users’ right to privacy.
Wrapping up
It is almost impossible for us to prevent social media giants accessing or sharing our personal information completely. But if you take right steps at the right time, you can simply make a big change. While WhatsApp is still uses end-to-end encryption it is not a big deal. But it is still a big concern when it comes to other information that WhatsApp still collects from us.
On the other hand, there is also no end-to-end encryption when it comes to WhatsApp Business which is an even bigger concern. With all that being said, you can either stop using WhatsApp completely or switch to a different, more popular messaging apps such as Telegram or Signal. These apps are an excellent alternative to WhatsApp and collect no information from you at all in any way.
Let’s know what do you think about WhatsApp’s new privacy policy update. You might also want to know about the best alternatives for WhatsApp. Follow us for more interesting information and tech tips related to WhatsApp.