It appears that Facebook’s complaints about the App Store’s privacy labels and the disclosure of the information it collects from us are valid. In a notice that many users are receiving through WhatsApp, which is one of the biggest advertising companies on the planet, warns: all information that WhatsApp collects from us will be used on Facebook for hypersegmented advertising, among others.
WhatsApp, another Facebook tool to get data
Many users have received, not without the relevant surprise, the message from the previous image when opening WhatsApp on their iPhone. As we can read, Facebook is preparing to share and use the data it collects through WhatsApp for other services and purposes. The changes will come into effect on February 8 and we will be obliged to accept them if we want to continue using the service.
The truth is, the measure was previously announced in July of last year, but so far the data sharing option was optional, it will now be mandatory. And what data are we talking about? Of all the data that WhatsApp collects from our iPhone: our name, phone number, device brand and model, locations (even if we disable this option, it is still calculated by IP), all the contacts we have saved, etc.
With this information, Facebook intends “to display relevant offers and advertisements on the products of the Facebook company”, while also indicating that they will improve user safety. Without a doubt a maneuver that will suppose a substantial income for the company, as the chanted sentence says: “If a company doesn’t have a product, you are the product”.
And today, to everyone’s surprise, WhatsApp will start sharing all the collected data with Facebook. 🙈🙉🙊 pic.twitter.com/jrDgxiaeyx
– David Bernal Raspall (@ david_br8) January 6, 2021
In the European Union, however, GDPR regulations prevent Facebook from sharing WhatsApp data with the rest of the business for the benefit of the business. It is, as Facebook says in the WhatsApp Terms of Service, “the outcome of conversations held with the Data Protection Commission Ireland and other European data protection authorities.
The most critical voices, however, have been quick to point out that while not all data can be shared, the “conclusions” drawn from it are free to flow around the business and even be sold. At the same time, under the umbrella of “improving service security”, there is more data that Facebook can collect through WhatsApp. Finally, most skeptics say it’s not the first time Facebook has been lying about its practicesThe most recent case is the use of the phone number which should only be used for two-factor authentication to display advertising.
The truth is, Facebook’s behavior on some of its fronts is striking. From posting a full-page ad in major US newspapers stating that Apple will end the free internet by forcing apps to ask permission from us to follow us, to claiming to abuse its dominant position by asking applications from, On the pages of the App Store, indicate what personal data we will use and for what. We’ll see how the issue evolves, but even Facebook employees themselves accuse the company of being cynical, it’s worth the trip.
