Last month there was much furore over the rolling out of WhatsApp’s new privacy policy. The private messaging app, which launched its payment feature as well found itself mired in controversy that seems to have come from nowhere. While most of us have continued with our customary usage of the app, there are still a few who feel the new privacy policy is a bit convoluted. For such individuals here’s a simplification of what WhatsApp’s new privacy policy is about, and how safe you, your data and contacts are.
1. Transaction Privacy: First off the new policy says how user data is impacted when there is interaction with a business on the platform, and provides more details on integration with Facebook, WhatsApp’s parent company. However, Facebook will not have any access to a user’s details of digital transactions through WhatsApp
2. Group Privacy: WhatsApp groups continue to remain private; basically any message or data sent on the group will continue to remain private and will not be shared with Facebook for ads purposes. Besides this, chats on the app are end-to-end encrypted from sender to receiver essentially meaning that they cannot be seen or read by WhatsApp.
3. Disappearing messages: Adding another layer of security, WhatsApp has launched the disappearing messages capability wherein a user can select a time limit post which the sent message will disappear from the app itself.
4. Contacts Privacy: Despite seeking access to your contacts, WhatsApp does not share contact details with anyone else. The said contact data is used to enable a faster messaging capability. Besides, the app only accesses the number for the messaging service.
5. Log of usage: Unlike traditional mobile carriers and operators, WhatsApp does not store records or logs of who everyone is messaging. In fact, the private messaging app states that storing such records would be a major privacy and security risk.
6. Location privacy: Though WhatsApp enables you to share you location, the app itself does not track nor store such data. When you do share your location data with someone, the data is again protected by end-to-end encryption.
7. Message & call privacy: WhatsApp cannot see your private messages nor can it hear your calls. Facebook or WhatsApp do not have access to any data, message or call you share or make thanks to the end-to-end encryption that ensure that the said data is unavailable to anyone save for the sender and receiver.
8. Personal Data: To enable a higher level of transparency, WhatsApp enables users to download their data. Within this, a user can see what information WhatsApp has on your account right from within the app.
This leaves us with the question of what is changing then! As stated earlier, this new privacy policy informs users about how their data is impacted when they interact with businesses. Messaging with businesses is completely optional, and all such chats are labelled to give user the visibility that they’re chatting with a business account. WhatsApp has extended the timeline to accept this new privacy policy to 15th May, to ensure users have more time to understand the privacy policy.
So go ahead and read the privacy policy notice the next time you see it on your WhatsApp screen.
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