WhatsApp’s new privacy policy and what you can do about it

WhatsApp’s new privacy policy and what you can do about it

WhatsApp's New Privacy policy 2021

Users have until February 8 to accept these new terms, WhatsApp meanwhile has reiterated that all messages are end-to-end encrypted. A new notification has been popping up on everyone’s WhatsApp telling them that it's terms and policies are being updated. Users have until February 8 to accept these new terms, and WhatsApp has indicated that users may not be able to access their WhatsApp accounts if they do not accept the new terms and agreements (updated on January 4). This new update has caused a lot of concern over the new privacy policy, especially with respect to data sharing with its parent company Facebook.

What is WhatsApp sharing with Facebook?

Facebook-owned WhatsApp’s updated policy says that it may share your information with its family of companies to “facilitate, support and integrate their activities and improve our services.”

What about your transaction data?

Now that WhatsApp has launched a payments feature in India, it says that if you use WhatsApp Pay, additional information, including payment account and transaction information is processed by the company. This is information required to complete the transaction such as payment method, shipping details and transaction amount.

“If you use our payments services available in your country or territory, our privacy practices are described in the applicable payments privacy policy,” it adds.

What about businesses and third-part services?

WhatsApp recently launched WhatsApp Business, which allows businesses to contact and communicate with customers through its app. This could include making purchases through the app, or businesses contacting you, sending you order confirmations, flight tickets, tickets to other events, etc.

While chats between you and a Business are end-to-end encrypted, WhatsApp says that once the message is received, it will be subject to the business’s own privacy practices.

“Some businesses will be able to choose WhatsApp’s parent company, Facebook, to securely store messages and respond to customers. While Facebook will not automatically use your messages to inform the ads that you see, businesses will be able to use chats they receive for their own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook. You can always contact that business to learn more about its privacy practices,” WhatsApp says.

The detailed policy on interacting with businesses can be read here.

What choice do you have?

Full report at TheNewsMinute