Recently everyone received What’s apps new privacy policy notification, after that everyone decided to deactivate Whats app or boycotting it but now the buzz has been clarified by the company
WhatsApp on Tuesday provided clarification on the latest privacy policy statement released and said the latest changes do not affect the privacy of messages sent to friends and family in any way. The instant messaging platform says it actually wants to "deal with the rumours", which also means it will continue to protect your private messages with end-to-end encryption. They clarified it can't see your private messages or listen to your calls. This new development comes amid public criticism of WhatsApp over a privacy policy review that took place last week. Addressing user’s concerns over privacy policy reviews, WhatsApp has released a new FAQ page on its site that highlights private communications in the app.
“WhatsApp or Facebook cannot read your messages or hear your calls with your friends, family, and co-workers on WhatsApp. Whatever you share, it stays with you, ”said the platform. In a thread, it added, "Our privacy policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family." WhatsApp also said it does not keep logs of user communications. "While administrators and traditional authorities keep this information, we believe that maintaining these records of two billion users could be a risk to privacy and security and we do not do that," he clarified.
In the location sharing section, WhatsApp revealed on its newly created FAQ page that it could not see shared user space similar to Facebook. The platform emphasized that when someone shares a location in their app; the end result is encrypted - meaning they could not be seen by anyone other than the people being shared with. However, it is important to know that WhatsApp collects and uses the exact location information of the user’s devices. “Although you may not use our location-related features, we use IP addresses and other information such as area code numbers to measure your location (e.g. city and country). We also use your location information for diagnostic and problem-solving purposes, ”the revised privacy policy states.
The FAQ page also noted that WhatsApp does not share your Facebook contacts. "When you give us permission, we only access the phone numbers in your address book to make messages faster and more reliable, and we do not share your contact list with other applications provided by Facebook," he said. Similarly, WhatsApp said group chats on the platform remain confidential and encrypted at the end. “We use group membership to send messages and protect our service from spam and harassment. We do not share this data with Facebook for advertising purposes,” specified on the FAQ page. Regarding the information sharing that has brought about the privacy issue, the Facebook-host platform said the update included changes related to WhatsApp messaging businesses.
“Some large businesses need to use hosting services to manage communications. That's why we give businesses the opportunity to use secure hosting services from Facebook to manage WhatsApp conversations with their customers, answer questions, and send useful information such as receipts for purchases, ”said the platform. It also spoke of the advent of new commercial features, which could allow businesses to sell their products and services from WhatsApp, which may require personalization. Thus, consumer shopping activities can be used to customize the feeling.
WhatsApp, however, said those features were optional. Updates on privacy policy have helped unknowingly compete with competing platforms including Telegram and Signal to achieve some success. However, WhatsApp had already insisted that the changes would be taken into account for business accounts.
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