WhatsApp Clarifies That Facebook Won’t Read Your Messages With New Privacy Policy

Anyone who owns a smartphone would know of the dozens of messaging apps you can choose from.

And if you’re an avid user of the messaging app WhatsApp, then you’ve probably heard the big news.

Namely, it’s the new privacy policy that’s been the talk of the town.

It basically says that the company will be sharing data with Facebook and that users will have till 8 February 2021 to agree on the new terms.

Which makes some sense, since Facebook is the parent company.

If they don’t agree with this new policy, they’ll no longer be able to use Whatsapp for texting.

WhatsApp Clarifies FB Won’t Read Your Messages With New Privacy Policy

But this obviously got some people understandably worried, thinking that the app would be able to access your private messages and send them to Facebook for targetted advertisement, or for Mark Zuckerberg to read through before he goes to bed.

However, the company has stepped in to clear things up.

On 12 Jan, WhatsApp released a tweet regarding some of these concerns.

We want to address some rumors and be 100% clear we continue to protect your private messages with end-to-end encryption. pic.twitter.com/6qDnzQ98MP

— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) January 12, 2021

They claim that the policy update will not affect your privacy of messages with other people.

In the tweet, a picture has also been shared, showing a list of things to clarify a few questions about the app

• WhatsApp cannot see your private messages or hear your calls and neither can Facebook.
• The app keeps logs of who everyone is messaging or calling.
• It cannot see your shared location and neither can Facebook.
• WhatsApp does not share your contacts with Facebook.
• Group chats remain private.
• You can set your messages to disappear.
• You can download your data.

There is more information at their new FAQ over here, which also talks about business messaging and how it works with Facebook.

How The App Will Use Data

It states that businesses can use secure hosting services from Facebook to manage WhatsApp chats with their customers.

Communicating with a business by phone, email, or WhatsApp allows the app to see what you’re saying.

Businesses may use that information for their own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook.

This would in turn affect the kinds of ads you see on Facebook as well since it is adjusting to your preference.

And don’t forget, Facebook also owns Instagram, so they can also get data from there too.

At the very least, it’s been confirmed that there will be no third-party banner ads allowed.

You can check out the entire new privacy policy over here.

So while WhatsApp and Facebook might know where you buy your clothing from, at least they’re not snooping in on your school projects.

But I’m still going to be biased to Telegram.

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Featured Image: Rahul Ramachandram / Shutterstock.com