WhatsApp Clarifies New Privacy Policy, Says Messages to Friends and Family are Safe - 2 minutes read




WhatsApp has come under heavy criticism in recent days after it rolled out its new Terms of Service. The new ToS was rolled out by WhatsApp primarily for improved messaging businesses on the platform and to allow Facebook, WhatsApp’s owner, to collect data and show targeted ads to users. However, there was a lot of misconception about the new ToS from WhatsApp which the company has now tried to clarify using an infographic and an FAQ.

WhatsApp makes it clear in its response that it will continue to protect one’s chats on the platform with end-to-end encryption. It also makes it clear that both WhatsApp and Facebook cannot see one’s private messages or hear voice calls. The infographic also states that WhatsApp will not be sharing your contact book with Facebook and neither will the company keep a log of the contacts you are messaging or calling. WhatsApp and Facebook will also not have access to one’s shared location.

We want to be clear that the policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family in any way. Instead, this update includes changes related to messaging a business on WhatsApp, which is optional, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data.

WhatsApp wants to make it easier for users on its platform to interact with businesses. For this, WhatsApp will be providing some tools to large businesses to manage all the chats, with the tool itself coming from Facebook. Any business can use the chat data for marketing purposes and advertising on Facebook itself which is what WhatsApp wanted to account for with its updated ToS.

As for sharing data with Facebook, WhatsApp explains that it will allow businesses to show their Facebook Shops hosted content right within WhatsApp thereby making the entire transaction easier for users on the platform. This shopping activity can be used by Facebook to deliver personalized ads on Facebook as well as Instagram.

Source: iphonehacks.com

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