WhatsApp has denied the allegations that its new privacy policy update would mandate users to share sensitive profile information with Facebook. The company has issued a clarification, following a surge in the download of rival apps such as Signal and Telegram. Prominent personalities including Elon Musk and investor Chamath Palihapitiya recommended the Signal app to their social media followers following the allegations.
More:
- WhatsApp has clarified that, according to its privacy policy, it would only read communication with WhatsApp business profiles so that the information could be used for marketing purposes.
- The company added that interactions with the Facebook Shops feature through WhatsApp could be used to display ads on Facebook and Instagram, though this feature is optional.
- Further, WhatsApp stated that it cannot read private messages sent across its platforms due to its end-to-end encryption features.
- However, WhatsApp opts users in to share information such as their mobile number with Facebook by default. It claims that the information obtained will only be used for improved Facebook ad and product experience.
- Apple recently mandated developers to disclose data obtained from users under different categories such as "data used to track you," "data linked to you," and "data not linked to you." Apple denied Facebook's claim that the new policy doesn't apply to Apple's apps.
- Due to the allegations against WhatsApp, Signal has become one of the most downloaded apps in app stores since last week, followed by Telegram. The non-profit organization Signal Foundation was co-founded by WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, and it acts as Signal's holding company. Brian Acton previously donated $50M for the foundation and said that Signal's idea is to sustain through donations.
- Around 25 million new users signed up for Telegram in the last three days.
In other data-privacy related news:
- Hours before Amazon shut down Parler, hackers downloaded around 99% of public data available on Parler, including photos, videos, and geolocation data, due to flaws in basic security features. The FBI has sought to obtain the data collected by the hackers as part of their search for suspects who swarmed the U.S. Capitol last week.
