Whatsapp Security Concerns to Worry About

Facebook acquired WhatsApp two and a half years ago for $19 billion. At the time, WhatsApp adamantly insisted that user privacy wouldn’t change. Now, however, it seems that Facebook and WhatsApp are going to be doing quite a bit of information sharing.

While this new development raises security questions about WhatsApp, it isn’t the only security flaw in the app. With more than a billion people chatting, calling, and sharing photos through the app, there are always privacy risks. But this time, the intrusion of Facebook into WhatsApp territory can pose a very real threat to your personal security.

Read More: 5 Tips for Getting The Most out of Facebook Mobile

WhatsApp New Privacy Policy
WhatsApp has updated their privacy policy to include this little gem: “to coordinate more and improve experiences across our services and those of Facebook and the Facebook family.” The reasons for this move include:

1. “We will be able to more accurately count unique users.”
2. “We can better fight spam and abuse.”
3. “If you are a Facebook user, you might see better friend suggestions and more relevant ads on Facebook.”

But really, they would like to test new ways to expand their advertising outlet and let businesses communicate with WhatsApp users in a different way. From “hearing from your bank about a potentially fraudulent transaction, or getting notified by an airline about a delayed flight, many of us get this information elsewhere, including in text messages and phone calls. We want to test these features in the next several months.”

Now, WhatsApp plans to share phone numbers with Facebook. What’s more, they will be including analytics information. That means that there will be more Facebook friend targeting, more instances of Facebook trying to match you up with people you know, as well as Facebook ads that will use your phone number to serve you ads that line up with your area, interests, and so on.

Facebook will still see who you frequently contact on WhatsApp, what media you share, and may be able to link your social media accounts to you as well. Sharing this metadata with Facebook can still put users at risk.

For those with a WhatsApp account, but not a Facebook account, they will not have any changes made to their use of the app. Users have a limited time to prevent Facebook from using their information for targeting purposes.

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