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WhatsApp Will Disable Your Account If You Don't Agree Sharing Data With Facebook

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WhatsApp Will Disable Your Account If You Don't Agree Sharing Data With Facebook

January 06, 2021
 
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"Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA," opens WhatsApp's privacy policy. "Since we started WhatsApp, we've aspired to build our Services with a set of strong privacy principles in mind."

But come February 8, 2021, this opening statement will no longer find a place in the policy.

The Facebook-owned messaging service is alerting users in India of an update to its terms of service and privacy policy that's expected to go into effect next month.

The "key updates" concern how it processes user data, "how businesses can use Facebook hosted services to store and manage their WhatsApp chats," and "how we partner with Facebook to offer integrations across the Facebook Company Products."

The mandatory changes allow WhatsApp to share more user data with other Facebook companies, including account registration information, phone numbers, transaction data, service-related information, interactions on the platform, mobile device information, IP address, and other data collected based on users' consent.

 

Unsurprisingly, this data sharing policy with Facebook and its other services doesn't apply to EU states that are part of the European Economic Area (EEA), which are governed by the GDPR data protection regulations.

The updates to WhatsApp terms and privacy policy come on the heels of Facebook's "privacy-focused vision" to integrate WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger together and provide a more coherent experience to users across its services.

Users failing to agree to the revised terms by the cut-off date will have their accounts rendered inaccessible, the company said in the notification. This effectively means that, while the profiles will remain inactive, WhatsApp will eventually end up deleting the accounts after 120 days of inactivity (i.e. not connected to the app) as part of its efforts to "maintain security, limit data retention, and protect the privacy of our users."

 

WhatsApp's Terms of Service was last updated on January 28, 2020, while its current Privacy Policy was enforced on July 20, 2020.

Facebook Company Products refers to the social media giant's family of services, including its flagship Facebook app, Messenger, Instagram, Boomerang, Threads, Portal-branded devices, Oculus VR headsets (when using a Facebook account), Facebook Shops, Spark AR Studio, Audience Network, and NPE Team apps.

It, however, doesn't include Workplace, Free Basics, Messenger Kids, and Oculus Products that are tied to Oculus accounts.

What's Changed in its Privacy Policy?

In its updated policy, the company expands on the "Information You Provide" section with specifics about payment account and transaction information collected during purchases made via the app and has replaced the "Affiliated Companies" section with a new "How We Work With Other Facebook Companies" that goes into detail about how it uses and shares the information gathered from WhatsApp with other Facebook products or third-parties.

 

whatsapp privacy policy
 

This encompasses promoting safety, security, and integrity, providing Portal and Facebook Pay integrations, and last but not least, "improving their services and your experiences using them, such as making suggestions for you (for example, of friends or group connections, or of interesting content), personalizing features and content, helping you complete purchases and transactions, and showing relevant offers and ads across the Facebook Company Products."

One section that's received a major rewrite is "Automatically Collected Information," which covers "Usage and log Information," "Device And Connection Information," and "Location Information."

 

"We collect information about your activity on our Services, like service-related, diagnostic, and performance information. This includes information about your activity (including how you use our Services, your Services settings, how you interact with others using our Services (including when you interact with a business), and the time, frequency, and duration of your activities and interactions), log files, and diagnostic, crash, website, and performance logs and reports. This also includes information about when you registered to use our Services; the features you use like our messaging, calling, Status, groups (including group name, group picture, group description), payments or business features; profile photo, "about" information; whether you are online, when you last used our Services (your "last seen"); and when you last updated your "about" information."

 

WhatsApp's revised policy also spells out the kind of information it gathers from users' devices: hardware model, operating system information, battery level, signal strength, app version, browser information, mobile network, connection information (including phone number, mobile operator or ISP), language and time zone, IP address, device operations information, and identifiers (including identifiers unique to Facebook Company Products associated with the same device or account).

"Even if you do not use our location-related features, we use IP addresses and other information like phone number area codes to estimate your general location (e.g., city and country)," WhatsApp updated policy reads.

Concerns About Metadata Collection

While WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted, its privacy policy offers an insight into the scale and wealth of metadata that's amassed in the name of improving and supporting the service. Even worse, all of this data is linked to a user's identity.

Apple's response to this unchecked metadata collection is privacy labels, now live for first- and third-party apps distributed via the App Store, that aim to help users better understand an app's privacy practices and "learn about some of the data types an app may collect, and whether that data is linked to them or used to track them."

 

The rollout forced WhatsApp to issue a statement last month. "We must collect some information to provide a reliable global communications service," it said, adding "we minimize the categories of data that we collect" and "we take measures to restrict access to that information."

In stark contrast, Signal collects no metadata, whereas Apple's iMessage makes use of only email address (or phone number), search history, and a device ID to attribute a user uniquely.

There's no denying that privacy policies and terms of service agreements are often long, boring, and mired in obtuse legalese as if deliberately designed with an intention to confuse users. But updates like this are the reason it's essential to read them instead of blindly consenting without really knowing what you are signing up for. After all, it is your data.

UPDATE: Why Zuckerberg Wants to Integrate WhatsApp and Facebook?

In a statement shared with The Hacker News, a WhatsApp spokesperson justifies integrating both platforms by saying:

 

"As we announced in October, WhatsApp wants to make it easier for people to both make a purchase and get help from a business directly on WhatsApp. While most people use WhatsApp to chat with friends and family, increasingly people are reaching out to businesses as well. To further increase transparency, we updated the privacy policy to describe that going forward businesses can choose to receive secure hosting services from our parent company Facebook to help manage their communications with their customers on WhatsApp."
"Though of course, it remains up to the user whether or not they want to message with a business on WhatsApp. The update does not change WhatsApp's data sharing practices with Facebook and does not impact how people communicate privately with friends or family wherever they are in the world. WhatsApp remains deeply committed to protecting people's privacy. We are communicating directly with users through WhatsApp about these changes so they have time to review the new policy over the course of the next month."
 
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Pai trebuie sa-si scoata si Facebook-ul cumva banii investiti in Whatsapp (18 miliarde $). Singura lor varianta care a rezistat in timp a fost reclama targhetata.

Sunt curios daca o sa adauge in timp ceva similar cu Youtube Premium, un abonament lunar prin care scapi de mizeriile de Shadow Legends din video-uri si feed-uri. Pana la urma, ar fi in interesul lor sa primeasca bani direct de la useri.

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50 minutes ago, gigiRoman said:

Pai si cum ramane cu end to end encryption? Ramane o gluma buna?

Ce fel de date se shareuiesc cu facebook? E doar pt whatsapp business?

 

https://faq.whatsapp.com/general/security-and-privacy/security-code-change-notification?lg=en&lc=US&eea=1

ei zic ca nici ei nu citesc mesajele. Pai atunci cum sa te targeteze cu reclame?

 

Nu va mai exista spatiul privat, nu va mai exista continut privat iar instantele vor fi de acord. In schimb exista continut inregistrat gen arta, video, etc. pe care vei avea drepturi dar nu va fi privat. Cui nu ii convine -> move to Russia, China, N.Koreea etc., dar s-ar putea si acolo sa nu fie chiar privat totul :). La fel si cu drepturile si libertatile, acestea vor fi atribuite unei clase sociale si nu individiual.

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Nu cred ca Whatsapp ar incepe sa decripteze mesajele private daca au in policy asta. Daca intr-adevar fac asta si sunt prinsi, o sa le crape actiunile celor de la Facebook.

 

Aici zic ce colecteaza:

  • Your Account Information - nu e nimic special aici, la fel cere si Google, Microsoft, banca si alte site-uri; eventual poate sa-ti creeze un shadow profile in Facebook in caz ca nu ai cont si, in momentul in care ti-l creezi, sa-ti dea o lista de prieteni pe baza agendei telefonice la sugestii
  • Your Messages - specifica faptul ca sunt doua situatii in care stocheaza date:
    • in momentul in care userul e offline ca sa poata sa-i trimita mesajul pe telefon atunci cand revine in aplicatie
    • pentru fisiere media - aici e un pic cu semnul intrebarii pentru ca, fiind companie americana, s-ar putea sa bage pe viitor vreo clauza DMCA si sa blocheze contul daca sunt transferate materiale cu copyright
  • We offer end-to-end encryption for our Services - asigurarea lor ca nu vor citi mesajele
  • Your Connections
    • iti aduna contactele din agenda pentru a te ajuta sa te conectezi mai rapid cu alti oameni care folosesc Whatsapp
    • acelasi lucru il fac si Telegram si Signal
    • daca datele astea ajung la Facebook, singurul lucru pe care Facebook poate sa-l faca cu ele e sa-ti dea sugestii de prieteni pe baza agendei telefonice sau sa genereze pentru fiecare contact cate un shadow profile
  • Status Information - e mai mult sau mai putin aceeasi functionalitate care era pe Y!M, mai nimeni nu foloseste statusul pe Whatsapp
  • Transactions And Payments Data - e pentru un serviciu de plati care nu e disponibil la noi
  • Customer Support And Other Communications - nimic special aici
  • Usage And Log Information
    • ce pot sa faca aici e sa vada ca vorbesti foarte mult cu X-ulescu pe Whatsapp (nu se vad mesajele, dar se va vedea traficul) si sa ti-l recomande ori ca prieten pe Facebook, ori, daca e deja prieten, sa ti-l puna mai sus in lista
  • Device And Connection Information - nimic special aici, ia detalii tehnice despre telefonul tau ca sa stie sa te ajute in caz ca crapa ceva sau sa poata sa faca repro
  • Location Information - prin asta, Facebook poate sa-ti arunce reclame mai targhetate pe zona ta, gen pizzerii din zona, evenimente, etc.
  • Cookies - nimic special aici

 

In afara de a te bombarda cu reclame targhetate si de a-ti da sugestii de prieteni pe Facebook, ce se mai poate intampla e ca politia sau alte organe sa faca un request pe https://www.facebook.com/records/login/ si sa ceara o lista cu toate persoanele (si numerele de telefon din profilul respectivilor) cu care X a comunicat. Nu vor fi mesajele efective, dar vor fi metadate (X a discutat cu Y la orele a,b,c; cu Z la orele d,e,f) care pot fi folosite mai departe pentru a-i localiza pe respectivii. La fel, pe baza request-ului, se pot lega discutiile de conturile de Facebook ale lui X, Y, Z, IP-uri, timestamp-uri, geolocation, activitate, etc.

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8 minutes ago, Dragos said:

Nu cred ca Whatsapp ar incepe sa decripteze mesajele private daca au in policy asta. Daca intr-adevar fac asta si sunt prinsi, o sa le crape actiunile.

 

 

WHATSAPP nu e listata pe bursa :) este doar Facebook-ul care detine Whatsapp si nu-i afecteaza prea mult.

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4 hours ago, YKelyan said:

total de acord dpdv tehnic, ei faceau si pana acum data sharing dar o faceau ilegal vezi Cambridge Analytica. din punct de vedere juridic este o mizerie si nu numai, eu daca lucrez impreuna cu echipa mea la un concept ce urmeaza sa fie tehnologizat datele privind secretul tehnologic ajung la ei si sunt vizualizate uman(verificat cu tracking). Conceptele nu se pot patenta in stadiul initial. Bine in acest proces nu este indicat sa utilizezi Wapp dar atunci inseamna ca aplicatia se adreseaza doar anumitor categorii de utilizatori si nu tuturor. Pana acum nu aveau nevoie de acordul tau dar datele nu se puteau folosi public sau distribui legal. si daca nu au facut multe pana acuma nu inseamna ca nu vor face ceva diferit in viitor vezi reactia din US de acuma. Sa le dai dreptul sa iti foloseasca toate datele de pe telefon este ca si cum le dai telefonul lor sau le permiti sa il cloneze :) Nici epoca de piatra nu este buna dar nici setea de putere nu e buna vezi Dragnia :) .

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