Literally flooded with criticism for its recent Privacy Policy update, WhatsApp uses Twitter to tell us that nothing has changed.
The storm around WhatsApp's new privacy policy doesn't seem to want to subside. Continues, in fact, the wave of criticism after the update of the terms of service that will come into force from February 8 and that have been anticipated by a message in the messaging app.
As repeatedly reiterated by WhatsApp spokespersons, the new policy that in a few days will regulate the use of personal data of users of the platform will not affect the mode of data sharing within the European Union to which is added the United Kingdom. In fact, the entire area is regulated by the GDPR, which is the European Data Protection Regulation. This prevents WhatsApp from sharing users' data with Facebook in order to allow the social network to use them for sending targeted advertising or improving its products.
WhatsApp, on Twitter the answers to privacy criticism
Through some messages launched from its official Twitter profile, WhatsApp tried to clarify once again its position by specifying in a clear way the way of collection and use of personal data of the users of the messaging application. In addition, it wanted to remember what are in detail the types of data collected and shared with Facebook, the company that acquired the platform in February 2014.
WhatsApp, what are the data that are not shared by the app
As reiterated by WhatsApp, the update of the privacy policy, mainly dedicated to the business version of the instant messaging app, does not include any changes to traditional chats with friends and family. Both the app and Facebook cannot, in fact, view private messages or listen to phone conversations, which are protected by an end-to-end encryption system.
The same goes for call or message logs: the company, as stated, does not track this type of information, unlike mobile operators. Even the app user's location cannot be viewed, neither by WhatsApp nor by Facebook. Also protected by encryption, it is only available with users with whom you have chosen to share it.
Another critical point is contacts. WhatsApp and Facebook don't share users' contacts, unless the user expressly wishes to do so. In this case, the app accesses the phone numbers in the address book to carry out its own messaging service, but without sharing the contact list with third-party apps connected to Facebook.
Privacy is also protected in groups, which remain private and encrypted, as well as in messages for which a maximum time can be set in the chat before disappearing for both users, both the writer and the receiver. This latest clarification comes just a few hours after the news that thousands of WhatsApp profiles and groups were accidentally indexed by Google.
In any case, WhatsApp reminds that all users can decide to download their data at any time, so they can view all the personal information held by the platform directly from the app.