As of February 8, WhatsApp users outside the EU will be forced to share certain data with Facebook, the app’s parent company. France is, however, not entirely affected.
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Almost seven years after having bought WhatsApp, Facebook, the giant social networks, continues to accentuate the integration of the service within its structure. The instant messaging application, one of the most widely used in the world, will introduce, as of February 8, new rules of use: they will force its users outside Europe to accept the transfer of a plus much of their data to Facebook. In recent hours, the latter have seen messages inviting them to accept these new conditions.
For the time being, within the European Union, the information message is only displayed on versions of the application installed in English; it indicates a slight evolution than that expected for the rest of the world. According to Le Monde, the notification specifies that “the main updates” relate only to “WhatsApp services and how your data is processed”, as well as “how companies can use the services hosted by Facebook to store and manage their WhatsApp conversations “.
Contacted by Le Monde, Facebook clarified this change by saying that WhatsApp” will offer companies have the option of using Facebook’s secure hosting infrastructure to host their WhatsApp conversations if they do not wish to store their messages themselves. Additionally, users “will be notified in the conversation” if a company they are interviewing with decides to use these Facebook hosting services.
The phone numbers obligatorily given to Facebook outside the EU
On the other hand, outside the EU and for countries that are not subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the update of the terms of use marks a much more profound change in the treatment of personal data by WhatsApp. The posted message includes a third more prominent point on “how [WhatsApp partners] with Facebook to offer integration between the products of the Facebook company.”
Specifically, WhatsApp will share to Facebook, from of February 8, personal data such as phone number, IP addresses as well as user device information. App users will have to “accept the new terms of use to continue using WhatsApp” after they come into effect.
#WhatsApp updated its Privacy Policy and Terms of Services, making data-sharing with Facebook mandatory for all.
I… https://t.co/xcfcJrg1mq— impalaklive (@palak) a >
Although less drastic, this new direction taken by WhatsApp is reminiscent of the choice of Mark Zuckerberg’s firm regarding its Oculus subsidiary. In fact, since last year, Oculus virtual reality headset owners have been forced to link their device to their Facbook account in order to be able to continue using them.