WhatsApp to share your number with Facebook
Get ready for targeted ads on the Facebook. As, global messaging service WhatsApp will soon start sharing the phone numbers of its users with its parent company Facebook.
This is the first major privacy update announced by the company since it was acquired by Facebook in the year 2014 for a whopping $19 billion.
Here's all you need to know about the 'big change' coming to WhatsApp.
1.30-days opt out period
In case not happy with the changes and don't want WhatsApp to share your number with Facebook, you have 30 days to opt out. According to WhatsApp, current users have up to 30 days to accept the new policy terms or stop using the service. Once they accept, they have 30 more days to opt out of sharing with Facebook.
2.Not selling your numbers to advertisers: WhatsApp
WhatsApp, however, sought to reassure users by saying that it would not sell, share, or give users' phone numbers to advertisers.
Worry not, ads are not coming to WhatsApp. The company maintained that messages on the service are encrypted by default and that it would not allow banner advertisements from third parties.
4.Device and operating information to be shared
WhatsApp will begin to 'coordinate' accounts with Facebook by sharing WhatsApp users' mobile phone numbers and device information like the type of operating system and other details about the users' smartphones.
The ads would come through a Facebook program called 'Custom Audiences', which lets a business upload lists of customers and phone numbers or other contact information that the business has collected from warranty cards or other sources. Facebook matches the list to users with the same information and shows them ads. For example, if you sign up to your local flower shop's mailing list using the same mobile phone number that you use for your WhatsApp account, and they decide to advertise on Facebook, you may see their ads on Facebook," the spokesperson explained.
A WhatsApp spokesperson explained to ET how this will work. According to him, whenever a person signs up on WhatsApp, he/she provides a phone number as an identifier, and a unique number that is associated with the device (such as smartphone or tablet) that the WhatsApp app is installed on. If a person has the Facebook app and WhatsApp app installed on the same device, even with different phone number, by using the device identifier, Facebook will now be able to map the two in the background using the basic device information.
7.Not integrating Facebook Messenger
So far, Facebook has no plans to integrate WhatsApp and its other messaging service Messenger
The communication on Whatsapp will continue to be encrypted end-to-end. The end-to-end encryption feature was rolled out earlier this year.
WhatsApp claims that post the integration, it can better fight spam using more personalized data from Facebook. The spokesperson also said that the focus will remain on ensuring that users are not spammed.
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