New WhatsApp privacy policy is making its users run away

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Users of the renowned mobile messaging App WhatsApp are concerned by the application of new privacy policies. Under the new WhatsApp policy terms, users accept the application sharing personal information with Facebook and partners. These new policies pose a great risk in terms of security and privacy for them. This week the App began to notify its users that they must accept the new terms before February 8. Furthermore, if opted not doing so, users will not be able to continue using the application after the due date.



Facebook has long been under public scrutiny for alleged practices of private information disclosure. This company acquired WhatsApp in 2014. Since then, they promised that it would always keep the data of its users confidential. Now Facebook claims on its blog that the application of these new terms of use does not have any significant impact on its users privacy. However, by accepting the new terms, the user empowers the company with the right to obtain specific information from it.

The visibility of the information in chat messages or phone calls will not be affected by the new changes in the regulations. The user information registered will be the name, telephone number, IP address and the brand and model of the user’s mobile. Anyone would think that this information has no connection with the personal information of users on Facebook. Even so, what may result when data is correlated between two separate applications is incredible and intimidating. With this new measure, Facebook will also be able to share the information collected with its partners Instagram and Facebook Messenger.

Scope of the new WhatsApp privacy policy

The new measures of the WhatsApp privacy policy will be valid globally. However, the clauses for users in the European Union and North America won’t be the same. The United States and Canada will receive specialized treatment in terms of handling and data collection. In contrast, Europe and the UK will have to accept the terms, but they won’t have any changes in the functionality. After the Brexit withdrawal agreement UK has given unparalleled protection to its inhabitants and extremely high fines for violation of their privacy rights.

The United States and Canada will be the target of this hunt for information. Additionally, they will have clauses that go beyond what is normal to trample on the rights of their users. By accepting the new terms in these regions, Facebook will be able to consolidate the forms of payment that users have defined in Facebook Pay to be used in WhatsApp for “payment of any service”. In addition, another clause advises that under the new terms, any form of dispute or legal battle that may arise regarding privacy issues may be resolved without the intervention of any judge or jury. These last two don’t sound good at all.

What we can do about this

Thousands of users across the globe are looking for new messaging Apps alternatives. Services such as Signal and Telegram have been seen to collapse on several occasions due to the massive migration of WhatsApp users. In conclusion, these two services are the ones that currently offer the best encryption of information and greater protection of users’ data.

A large number of organizations worldwide have come together to advocate for the rights of users on these platforms. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, twitted about Signal and its efforts to protect privacy. In the statement Musk expresses: “The company went from 10 million users to 50 million in a matter of days. It has implemented a huge amount of resources to be more stable and reliable”. Food for thought, maybe.

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