Opted out? WhatsApp to still give number to FB

NEW DELHI: You might choose not to share your account information under WhatsApp’s latest policy change for relevant ads on Facebook, but that does not mean the messaging platform will not share your phone number with the social media website.

WhatsApp will give your contact details to Facebook for purposes other than ads even if you opt out, a WhatsApp spokesperson said, contradicting reports that users can choose not to share information entirely.

The choice is limited to whether or not Facebook can use your information for ads and suggesting people you can add as friends.

“Specifically, we will provide Facebook the phone numbers people use to sign up for WhatsApp, along with information about how often people are using our service. This will allow us to improve our app’s performance and ultimately be more transparent about our metrics with the public,” the spokesperson told Hindustan Times in an email interview on Friday.

“…the phone number is being shared with Facebook, but it will not be in the public domain. Also some basic device information is being shared: mobile carrier code, identifier, mobile country code”, the official added.

When it was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion two years ago, WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum promised to protect user data, saying the deal will not affect its privacy stance.

Nikhil Pahwa, co-founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation, told HT: “I think the expectation and the promise of WhatsApp, when it was acquired, was that your information, even if it is your number, would not be linked with Facebook.”

It is to be seen whether WhatsApp’s policy shift has the potential to affect its user-base. “People shifted from Orkut to Facebook because Facebook was better at privacy. In the same way, people can switch from WhatsApp...” Pahwa said.

The messaging service, however, sought to reassure its users: “WhatsApp has become even more private and secure since joining Facebook, as we launched end-to-end encryption, which ensures messages can only be read by people in the conversation. WhatsApp can’t read them and neither can Facebook.”