WhatsApp on Tuesday said its latest policy update does not affect the privacy of messages as the Facebook-owned company sought to address concerns around security of user data on the platform.
In a blogpost, WhatsApp emphasised that it does not share users’ contact lists or data of groups with Facebook for ads purposes, and that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can read messages or hear calls between users on WhatsApp.
Last week, WhatsApp had informed users of an update in its Terms of Service and privacy policy regarding how it processes user data and partners with Facebook to offer integrations across the social media giant’s products.
It also stated that users will have to agree to the new terms and policy by February 8, 2021, in order to continue using WhatsApp’s service.
This kickstarted a spate of conversations and memes on the internet over WhatsApp’s alleged sharing of user information with Facebook, and many users have started shifting to rival platforms like Telegram and Signal.
“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 said.
It added that WhatsApp accesses only the phone numbers from the address book (after getting user’s permission) to make messaging fast and reliable, and that it doesn’t share contact lists with the other apps Facebook offers.
“We use group membership to deliver messages and to protect our service from spam and abuse.
We don’t share this data with Facebook for ads purposes.
Again, these private chats are end-to-end encrypted so we can’t see their content,†it noted.
A report by internet security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia had claimed
that at least 1,700 private WhatsApp group links were visible on Google through a web search. WhatsApp noted that users can choose to set their messages to disappear from chats “for additional privacyâ€.
