WhatsApp has recently updated its policy, which states that it can share information with its companies’ family about its users (Facebook). This Whatsapp new policy 2021 update has created a great deal of concern about the individuals’ privacy using this programme.
Privacy experts and antitrust regulators have also raised the alarm about this new WhatsApp privacy policy. Moreover, because of the absence of any data protection law, Indian users are more vulnerable.
Facebook’s WhatsApp has begun alerting its 2 billion users to a privacy policy change, and they have to approve it if they want to continue using the popular messaging app. The new terms, delivered at the beginning of 2021, have triggered an uproar among technology experts, proponents of privacy, billionaire entrepreneurs and government agencies, prompting a wave of defections to rival services.
WhatsApp says the changes are essential to help it better align with other Facebook items, but it has pushed back the deadline in the backlash.
What does the policy say?
New features of Whatsapp now maintains the ability to share information it collects about you with the giant Facebook network, including Instagram, instead of whether you have accounts or profiles.
Much of the Policy on monetizing WhatsApp is broadly in line with what came before, stating that WhatsApp collects information from other Facebook companies and shares news with them.
To help run and market businesses, you can use the data we obtain from them, and they can use the information we exchange with them.
Issues Related to New Whatsapp Policy
Whatsapp As the Owner of Data:
The details that WhatsApp automatically gathers and shares with Facebook will include the WhatsApp account’s cell phone number, user behaviour, and other necessary information.
- WhatsApp’s new privacy policy for exchanging commercial consumer data with Facebook establishes that it is the data owner rather than an intermediary.
- The policy effectively takes away the discretion users had until now not to share their details with other apps operated by Facebook and third parties.
Sharing of Metadata:
WhatsApp maintains that the end-to-end encryption clause remains intact, meaning that the messages will not be read or exchanged with others.
However, with the revised privacy policy, WhatsApp will now share one’s metadata, practically everything except the conversation’s actual text.
Take it or Leave it’ policy:
When users disagree with the messaging system’s updated privacy policy, they would have to quit WhatsApp when the new service terms are scheduled to come into effect.
Is Facebook now able to read my WhatsApp?
No. Conversations are encrypted end-to-end with your mates, ensuring you can not reach them except through WhatsApp itself.
By using WhatsApp, however, you can share your usage data with it, as well as the unique identifier of your phone, among other types of so-called metadata. According to WhatsApp on its listing in the App Store of Apple Inc., these could be connected to your identity. This information that the privacy policy stipulates must now be agreed to be shared with Facebook.
Why does Facebook want the data?
To help run and develop its services, it says it needs it. More generally, nearly all of Facebook’s $21.5 billion in revenue produced in the third quarter of 2020 came from advertising, and WhatsApp does not have.
The company aims to serve more targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram to individuals by understanding their WhatsApp use patterns and enabling companies to make WhatsApp purchases for products that have been clicked on in Instagram advertisements.
Who benefits from the updates to the privacy policy?
Especially business, WhatsApp says companies will be able to use new tools on Facebook’s platform to connect with and sell clients. The organization could see what you are thinking and use that details for its marketing purposes, including Facebook ads, specifically for the messages exchanged between a consumer and a company.
Other beneficiaries, however, include rival services including Signal. On Jan. 12, on Twitter, Signal shared data that indicated Android phone downloads jumped from an all-time total of about 10 million in one day to more than 50 million.
On Jan. 13, in many nations, such as the U.S., the U.K., and many in Europe, it was the most popular free app for Apple and Google stores. However, by Jan. 20, the app’s location in the store charts had started to slip.
Conclusion:
Security and Privacy Protection on whatsapp services are often typically full of rigid definitions for all to understand. That gives several platforms a free pass, not just WhatsApp. The new policies put the company back to the witness box and explain that WhatsApp is no longer an autonomous platform, but only another product from Facebook.