WhatsApp and Facebook have been sharing user data since 2016
The new update introduced by the "WhatsApp" application sparked a controversy among users of the popular communication platform.
Since Facebook acquired the platform, in 2014, users have expressed concern about the amount of data that will be shared.
The American magazine "Wired" reported that a new notification by "WhatsApp" led to an increased awareness of the step that WhatsApp has already taken, to share more data with "Facebook" since 2016.
She indicated that the application last week updated its terms of use and privacy policy, mainly to expand its practices on how commercial users of the platform store their communications, explaining that a window in the application informs users that, starting from February 8, the application's privacy policy will change, and they must accept the terms. To continue using the application.
According to the magazine, as part of updating this privacy policy, WhatsApp also removed a section about unsubscribing from sharing certain data with Facebook.
Some media outlets and confused WhatsApp users assume that this means that the platform has crossed the limits by imposing the sharing of data without any alternative.
But in fact, the step toward the privacy policy simply reflects how WhatsApp has been sharing data with Facebook, since 2016, for the vast majority of its more than two billion users.
When WhatsApp released a major update to the privacy policy in August 2016, it began sharing user information and data with Facebook, including users who did not consent to the update at the time.
Deputy director of "Fight for the Future", an American digital rights group, Evan Greer, said, "I do not trust any product from (Facebook)," adding that "their main goal is to monitor ... Never forget that."
In practical terms, this means that "WhatsApp" shares a lot of information with "Facebook", including account information such as phone number, logins to the platform, as well as information about how you interact with other users, and device identification data, In addition to other device details such as IP, operating system, browser details, in addition to battery information, application version, mobile network, language and time zone.
The merger between Facebook and WhatsApp has been the subject of internal controversy, and may have contributed to the departure of the founders of WhatsApp, Brian Acton and Jan Kum, in late 2017 and 2018, respectively.
A few months after his departure, Acton co-founded the non-profit Signal Foundation.
Translation: Makki Mamari
for "Wired"
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