Be careful when sharing data on WhatsApp, say experts in Oman

Many users agreed without checking the changes, and with that, unintentionally allowed WhatsApp to hand over information about them to its parent company Facebook for commercial use. The FTC, which is reviewing the complaints, did not comment. Granted the Whatsapp opt out instructions note that even after doing this you’re still not entirely opted out of having this data shared with the “Facebook family of companies”: “The Facebook family of companies will still receive and use this information for other purposes such as improving infrastructure and delivery systems, understanding how our services or theirs are used, securing systems, and fighting spam, abuse, or infringement activities”.

“We won’t post or share your WhatsApp number with others, including on Facebook, and we still won’t sell, share or give your phone number to advertisers”, WhatsApp stated.

As we say time changes. “WhatsApp complies with applicable laws. As always, we consider our obligations when designing updates like this”, a WhatsApp spokesman said in an emailed statement.

“Privacy-policy changes are followed with extreme vigilance” by European Union and national data-protection regulators, the Article 29 Working Party, made up of the EU’s 28 privacy chiefs, said in a statement on Monday.

“WhatsApp was bought by Facebook, and it was a free chat application but end to end communication was not encrypted, and when it was bought by Facebook, WhatsApp said it has been bought by Facebook, but nevertheless will continue being a free application and work as before”.

When popular messaging app Whatsapp was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion, the company responded to the obvious privacy implications with a blog post promising to “set the record straight” about the acquisition, while debunking all of the “inaccurate and careless information” being circulated online. Though the agency didn’t respond to Vocativ’s request for comment about EPIC’s complaint, right after Faceook first acquired WhatsApp, Jessica Rich, the FTC’s Director of Consumer Protection, formally reminded the companies that “WhatsApp has made a number of promises about the limited nature of the data it collects, maintains, and shares with third parties – promises that exceed the protections now promised to Facebook users”. A particular change is regarding users choosing not to let their details get utilized in advertisements on Facebook; however, they’d have to let their data get circulated among members of the social-networking website.

After the sale to Facebook was announced in 2014, WhatsApp Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Jan Koum repeatedly said nothing would change with the company’s privacy practices.

WhatsApp’s recent decision to start sharing user data with Facebook didn’t just upset privacy advocates. The WhatsApp spokesperson said that the changes are in agreement with this letter, because “people are required to agree to the new terms and privacy policy“.

The public interest litigation brought by two students, Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi, alleges “violation of fundamental rights of users” by sharing confidential information under the privacy policy.