BENGALURU: The leading messenger application WhatsApp recently announced modifications in its privacy policy, which will share user information with the patent company Facebook.  The company revealed that the data shared will be used for targeting ads to the users and also to fight against spam on WhatsApp.

However, the user has a choice to opt out of the privacy policy update and a thirty days time to accept the terms. Under the new T&Cs, WhatsApp information including the phone number of the user used to verify their account, and the last time they used the service will be shared with Facebook, which will then compare the number and user device information to target the user with ads. The company has assured that the data once collected will not be shared with third party advertisers and also no ads will be popping up in WhatsApp.

On the other hand, the WhatsApp messages will be encrypted by default and no third party ads will be included. The ads in Facebook with data from WhatsApp will be processed through a Facebook program called Custom Audiences that allows to upload lists of customers and phone numbers or other contact information that the business has collected.

Since WhatsApp has gained so much popularity, the users have no option to opt out of the data sharing features that are specifically for ad and product purposes.

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