Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion more than two years ago. At that time, Jan Koum, CEO of WhatsApp said they won’t compromise their privacy policy and user data because of this partnership. However, the company announced on Thursday morning that it’s going to share its users’ phone number with Facebook in an effort “to improve your Facebook ads and products experiences,” giving the businesses a new avenue to reach potential customers. These features are expected to start testing within the next few months.
What if you aren’t impressed with this improved experience ad don’t want WhatsApp to share your phone number with Facebook? Don’t worry. You have the option to opt out this whole rigmarole.
Don’t just blindly accept WhatsApp’s newly updated terms and conditions. Just tap the “Read more about the key updates to our terms and privacy policy” at the bottom of the terms and conditions and uncheck your data sharing option and you’re done.
If you’ve mistakenly accepted those new terms, you still have 30 more days to opt out. Just go to settings, and tap the account tab. At the bottom of the screen, there is a checkbox saying “Share my account info.” Uncheck the box to opt out.
In case you don’t have a Facebook account, this new terms and conditions will not affect your privacy. WhatsApp is sharing your phone number only with Facebook, not with any individual company.
