WhatsApp Is Giving Your Phone Numbers To Facebook. Here's How You Can Stop It
Big changes are coming to WhatsApp.
By John Lim — 26 Aug 2016, 05:36 PM
Highly popular messaging app WhatsApp is facing some major changes and from the looks of it, it's not for the better.
The app announced in a blog post that it'll start sharing phone numbers and analytics data of its users with its parent company, Facebook.
By coordinating more with Facebook, we'll be able to do things like track basic metrics about how often people use our services and better fight spam on WhatsApp.
And by connecting your phone number with Facebook's systems, Facebook can offer better friend suggestions and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them
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What this means is that Facebook will investigate user activity and send you friend recommendations. Of course, more targeted ads will be coming your way too.
Facebook can offer better friend suggestions and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them. For example, you might see an ad from a company you already work with, rather than one from someone you’ve never heard of.
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Thankfully, there are ways to opt out of this predicament! But the period is only 30 days long, so you have to be quick. Here are the two options to go about it:
1. Carefully read the terms and conditions
When you update to the newest version of WhatsApp, you’ll see a new set of terms and conditions. Once the app is done updating, the first screen in the process will come up. Don’t tap Agree just yet! Tap on Read instead.
Scroll all the way down and uncheck the box that will share your WhatsApp info with Facebook
2. Head to your WhatsApp settings
The second method applies if you've already accepted the new terms and conditions without having first opted out.
Go to Settings - Account - Share my account info from inside the app. At the bottom of this screen is a checkbox that you can uncheck to prevent the app from sending information to Facebook.
And there you have it! These two options should ensure that your phone number isn’t shared with Facebook, and the rest of your personal data should be safe as well.
A good reminder that we should always, ALWAYS read the T&Cs. :)