While presidential elections in USA are going in full swing and promises are made in plenty, there is one promise that is going to be broken.
This promise was made by WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jim Koum, who once firmly declared, “We have not, we do not, and we will not ever sell your personal information to anyone. Period. End of story”. These were Jim’s words in 2009.
When WhatsApp was taken over by Facebook in 2014, Jim reiterated that WhatsApp would remain an autonomous body and would operate independently. But promises are made to be broken. Though the promise will remain intact in letter, the spirit of the words will certainly change.
According to the latest news, WhatsApp is now going to share the phone numbers of people using this app with Facebook. Apart from numbers, WhatsApp will also supply information like what devices and operating system users are using to access WhatsApp.
Though this information will not be shared directly to Facebook advertisers, it will surely give Facebook some important insights like identifying WhatsApp users and give them targeted advertisements. On the face of this new agreement, Facebook claims that this move will help it for better accounting across it platforms.
However, everybody knows that how their data will be managed by Facebook. Even as Facebook is after your phone number, you can easily opt out of sharing your WhatsApp information with Facebook.
How to Stop WhatsApp from Sharing Your Number with Facebook
Note that you are supposed to take this action within 30 days as after this period, the window will be closed and your number will be shared with Facebook.
Step #1: Launch WhatsApp on your smartphone.
Step #2: Tap on Settings app of WhatsApp.
Step #3: Tap on Account.
Here, you can see a new option of ‘Share my account info’. You will also find a brief description about what checking this box means.
Step #4: Uncheck this box and your number won’t be shared with Facebook.
There is another method to stop WhatsApp from sharing your info with Facebook. WhatsApp will show you a new set of terms and conditions when you update to the latest version of this app. When the app is updated, you will see the first screen in the process. At this, you are not supposed to tap “Agree”. Scroll down and uncheck the box that shares your WhatsApp info with Facebook.
There are many users, who have already given green signal to Facebook for using their phone numbers. But this can be a clear intrusion to your privacy as Facebook gets to know persons with whom you are communicating; moreover, Facebook will also have access to information like how frequently you communicate with your contacts. Additionally, your online activities, associations, and political affiliations will also get exposed to Facebook.
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