The new terms imposed by the messaging service have alarmed many users, as those who refuse to accept them will no longer be able to access their account from 8 February.
The popular messaging app WhatsApp was criticized on Thursday for asking its 2 billion users to accept new terms of use, allowing it to share more data with its parent company Facebook.
Users who refuse will no longer be able to access their accounts as of February 8th.
On Twitter, numerous users were alarmed on Thursday for giving their consent without having read the changes in detail.
YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN: Twitter enables the option of voice messages for mobile phones with iOS operating system
Depending on the warning that appears on your WhatsApp, key updates may collect the following information:
– “The WhatsApp service and how we treat your data”.
– “How companies can use Facebook’s hosted services to store and manage their WhatsApp chats.”
He warns you that the measure will take effect from February 8 and that after that date you will have to endorse the conditions to continue using the platform.
Photo capture of social media.
What do these updates involve?
The group aims to monetize its platform by allowing advertisers to get in touch with their customers via WhatsApp, or even sell their products directly in the app, as is already the case in India.
“Updating privacy policies are common in the industry and we are providing users with all the information they need to verify the changes that will take effect on February 8,” a group spokesman said in a statement to the AFP.
According to the company, data that can be shared between WhatsApp and the Facebook app ecosystem (including Instagram and Messenger) includes contacts and profile information, except for message content.
Facebook acquired WhatsApp messaging service in 2014 at a cost of $ 22 billion. Photo / AFP
According to an Infobae post, these are the data that WhatsApp will share with its Facebook companies:
– Account registration information, such as telephone number.
– Operations data.
– Information related to the service.
– Information about how the user interacts with others, including companies.
– Information about the mobile device (battery charge, internet service provider, signal strength, hardware model, operating system …).
– IP address.
But the new conditions differ between the European Union and the rest of the world. In the case of the EU and the UK, they will only be used to develop the features offered in WhatsApp Business professional accounts, the company told AFP.
“WhatsApp does not share the data of its users in Europe with Facebook so that Facebook can use this data to improve its products or ads,” a spokesman for the platform said.
Asked by AFP, the National Commission for Informatics and Freedoms (CNIL), French internet regulation, recalled that since 2017 an investigation had been launched into the consequences of the purchase of Whatsapp by Facebook for 22 billion dollars in 2014, including data transfer conditions.
YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN: Not just for social media! Stories that only last 24 hours also reach Spotify