WhatsApp Shares Data With Facebook, Should I be worried?

WhatsApp on 25th of August announced an update to its terms and privacy policy. This update is coming two years after its acquisition by Facebook. The change to its privacy policy allows it to collect data about its users and share it with its parent company - Facebook.

WhatsApp will be sharing details like your phone number with Facebook so that you can have a better experience on Facebook. How does this work?

This will give Facebook more data to make relevant friend suggestions and also a way to target advertising. This way you only get to see ads that are relevant to you.

Not to worry your WhatsApp number will not be posted on Facebook or shared with anyone or sold to advertisers.

WhatsApp's blog states that it will also give ways for you to better communicate with businesses that matter to you too.

WhatsApp has put our mind to rest by assuring us that its end-to-end encryption feature is still active. Your encrypted messages remain private and no one else can read them. Not even WhatsApp or Facebook.

You can stop WhatsApp from sharing your data with Facebook.

If you have accepted the updated Terms and Privacy Policy you have 30 days to make a choice. Go to Settings>Account. You should see an option: Share my account info. If the box has been ticked then you can undo it. You will however be warned that you will not be able to change this in the future.

So its up to you.

Do you feel sharing will improve your Facebook experience?