You may have been recently asked to agree to Facebook’s new terms of service for WhatsApp. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the changes you’re agreeing to and how they might affect your online privacy.
Facebook’s new terms of service for WhatsApp:
WhatsApp and Facebook caused a stir earlier in the year when both companies announced brand-new privacy policy changes and updates to the terms of service. According to the new language, WhatsApp users must agree to share a bit more of their personal information with their parent company, Facebook. This includes their profile names, profile pictures, phone number, IP address, app logs, contact list, and even status messages.
WhatsApp users are also expected to share data with associated companies, including Facebook Payments, CrowdTangle (a social analytics tool), and Onavo (a controversial VPN and web analytics service)
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As it stands, it appears WhatsApp is doing the exact thing it promised it would not do when it was acquired by the social media giant Facebook about 7 years ago. Bear in mind that Facebook acquired WhatsApp for a mouth-watering $19 billion in February 2014. At the time, the messaging service had only 500 million users. But today, it boasts of more than 2 billion active users.
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It was initially reported that WhatsApp users who don’t agree to these new terms would immediately lose access to their accounts. However, it has since been revealed or disclosed that this is not entirely true. Users of the messaging app who don’t agree to the new terms will still be able to access and use the application, but they won’t be able to do anything tangible.
After the initial furor and confusion, as well as an inevitable pushback, Facebook backpedaled for a while. Nevertheless, the Us-based company has since moved forward with the new policy and will start implementing changes from May 15. And that is if there are no legal challenges that will hold it up further.
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Facebook has tried several methods over the years in order to monetize WhatsApp. This includes introducing business accounts in order to allow organizations or brands to chat expressly with new and existing customers. And they have even been able to turn the platform into a thriving eCommerce destination. However, the messaging app was left to move as its entity, and its parent company, Facebook, did not really meddle too much into WhatsApp’s core service itself.
But the new privacy policy changes and updates to terms of service are about to change all these.
Bottom Line:
It may also be worth checking out other messaging apps like Signal or Telegram which have stronger security standards than WhatsApp if this worries you at all.
So, have any of these moves by WhatsApp and Facebook turned you off these messaging services and made you switch over to their competitors, Signal or Telegram? Or have you consented to these changes because WhatsApp is too crucial to the day-to-day running of your business and other personal issues?
what do you think? Share your thoughts below!
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