Facebook is reportedly changing the privacy policy for the WhatsApp messaging-service app it acquired two years ago, claiming the move will help better tailor the platform’s advertising, prevent spam and enhance the user’s experience.
Facebook will use the app’s data to match people who have exchanged phone numbers, but haven’t befriended each other on the social network, the BBC reported Thursday.
WhatsApp said it will share information about usage, but not the content of encrypted messages, the BBC reported.
Most importantly for the San Francisco-based company is how the move “paves the way for businesses to send messages to WhatsApp users.”
“Messages you may receive containing marketing could include an offer for something that might interest you,” Facebook said in a blog post, the BBC reported.
Of course not everyone will be happy with the move and WhatsApp will allow users to opt out of the data sharing by marking a check-box in the terms of service page, according to the BBC.
When WhatsApp was sold two years ago, co-founder Jan Koum insisted that he was satisfied Facebook would continue the company’s tradition of respecting users’ privacy, tech-news site The Verge reported.
“Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA, and we built WhatsApp around the goal of knowing as little about you as possible,” Mr. Koum said at the time.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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