WhatsApp recently announced that it is updating its terms of service and privacy policies from February 8, 2021. After facing a lot of backlash from users over privacy concerns, the Facebook-owned messaging app has now issued a clarification that your privacy won’t be affected if you don’t use its two optional features.
In its FAQ section, WhatsApp has said that the new privacy policy does not affect the privacy of your messages with your friends and family. As per the company, the update will only affect the messages sent to business accounts on WhatsApp, which it adds is an optional feature.
WhatsApp and Facebook cannot see your private messages
WhatsApp has said that it offers end-to-end encryption for personal messages to all users and neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can read your messages or hear your calls with your friends and family.
It has further added that it does not keep logs of user’s messages and calls as it considers it would be ‘a privacy and security risk’.
WhatsApp does not share your contacts
WhatsApp has also added that it does not share your contacts with other apps from Facebook. The contacts are used to allow you to quickly message them from the app.
What will WhatsApp share with Facebook?
WhatsApp has said that it will share data related to how you interact with businesses on its app. The company also added that it will soon allow businesses to use Facebook’s hosting services to manage their communication with users. WhatsApp has said that it will add a label to businesses who use Facebook’s hosting services.
WhatsApp Business accounts will also be able to use Facebook’s Shops platform to display their products on WhatsApp. If you shop from businesses that are using the Shops platform, your shopping activity data will be shared with Facebook and it will be used to show ads on Facebook and Instagram.
Additionally, Facebook will soon allow you to message businesses using WhatsApp using a button on its platform. When you message a business on WhatsApp, Facebook will be able to use this to data to show your similar ads on its platform.
What does this mean?
While Facebook is not going to view your personal chats with friends and family, it will use your chats with businesses to show your more ads on Facebook, Instagram and other platforms from the company.
This means that while your personal data is still safe, your messages with businesses will soon be shared with Facebook.