Whatsapp, one of the most used applications on smartphones today, has started to show a pop-up window on millions of phones around the world during the last 24 hours, warning that there is an update in the privacy policy that suggests integration with Facebook.
Most people click on the button and continue as if nothing has happened, but it is important to understand what those changes are.
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As far as deadlines are concerned, we have time until February 8th to read and accept the new terms, if we don’t, WhatsApp will delete our account.
The new policy has been created so the popular messaging app can integrate better with Facebook products, it will allow for more interaction with businesses, and collect financial data from users.
WhatsApp’s new privacy policy suggests integration with Facebook
The application collects a large amount of account-related metadata, such as the phone number, profile picture, usage patterns (features we use, groups we’ve joined, and status), and device data.
Now the company has added a section called “Transaction and Payment Data.” The updated policy says that WhatsApp can send us advertising about the other companies on Facebook. In addition, the company will use the data collected from the application and other Facebook services for content suggestions, referrals, and announcements along with service improvements.
Facebook has already integrated Instagram and Messenger for cross-platform communication, now they want integrations that allow them to connect their experiences with other Facebook company products.
It is important to remember that Whatsapp has the Business app, which allows merchants to communicate with regular users on the platform. They want to be able to integrate other services into the chat application so third-party applications can read our messages on behalf of the company we are interacting with.
In addition, the third-party services we use within WhatsApp may obtain some of our information. For example, a video player embedded in the application may know our IP address.
At the moment there is not much to be concerned about, as the personal Whatsapp we use does not use many integrated applications, but it will be important to watch for the next moves to know exactly what we are talking about when they say “integration with other Facebook products.”