The talk of the town yesterday has been about WhatsApp’s new privacy policy: everyone was sharing information on how to opt out of a new term in the latest privacy policy that allows WhatsApp to share its data with Facebook.
While everyone jumps on the bandwagon to opt out of it, has anyone wondered what will really happen when you did not opt out?
Because of the controversy surrounding privacy, it seems like some of us just choose the safer route of opting out simply because everyone says so. Well, here’s what really happens when you did not opt out.
Firstly, you have to understand that WhatsApp belongs to Facebook, so Facebook does have the authority to do what it wants to WhatsApp, although WhatsApp did mention that they will still operate independently. Secondly, WhatsApp has removed its subscription fee, and that means the business isn’t going to generate any revenue at all, when it still has to pay its operating expenses like its staff and the server. You can’t expect a major company to run a loss for years.
Now, back to the topic: What are you allowing WhatsApp to do with your data?
One thing is for sure: your messages will not be revealed to anyone, including WhatsApp. Its end-to-end encryption will ensure that your private messages stay private within your phone—WhatsApp isn’t going to harvest data from your messages, know what you like and give that information to Facebook to provide more relevant ads.
WhatsApp will, however, gives your phone number to Facebook. Let’s say you’ve just saved the contact number of a new friend, Andy, to your phone. WhatsApp will share that data with Facebook, and Facebook might suggest Andy as a “People You Might Know” suggestion when you go through your Facebook newsfeed. Conversely, Andy will also see you as a suggested friend when he’s on Facebook. The number, however, won’t be shown.
Good, or bad? You decide.
Of course, WhatsApp claims that this information will “improve experiences across our services and those of Facebook and the Facebook family”. The example they cite is allowing them to count the number of users they have more accurately (good for them), fight spam and abuse (good for us) and also show better friend suggestions and ads (good for both of us).
However, I do not understand how they can show more relevant ads with Facebook when messages are not harvested.
But here’s the thing: objectively speaking, friend suggestions and ads are still going to appear in our newsfeed regardless of whether we opt in or out of the new term. Opting in just shows an “Andy” in our newsfeed instead of some random uncle, so it might be beneficial to some people.
Then again, it’s all subjective—just remember to make an informed decision instead of jumping on the bandwagon. After all, it’s the 21st century: the only way to be completely private is not to use the Internet at all.
Featured Image: Chonlachai / Shutterstock.com
This article was first published on Goodyfeed.com
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