If you were asked what the most popular messaging app in the world is, what would you say? Messenger? Instagram? Discord? All wrong. In fact, if you answered anything other than WhatsApp you would be wrong. WhatsApp rose quickly to become the biggest kid on the messaging block thanks to its compatibility with Android (by far the most popular smartphone platform in the world) and the fact it allows users to make free calls and texts as long as there is a wifi connection. What really sets this app apart from the rest though is that it didn’t gather or sell any of your data. Its developers prided themselves on the fact they didn’t know and didn’t want to know anything about their users.
Sadly, that started to change in 2014 when Facebook bought the company. Initially, the house that Zuck built promised that it would make no changes to the terms of service for WhatsApp. However, recently, they did change them, making it mandatory for users to share their WhatsApp data with Facebook. Users are faced with two choices, accept the new terms or lose their account. At least they are upfront about the choice. So there’s that.
One wonders though, why are they making users make this decision now? What is driving them to alter one of their primary features? To put it another way, why do they want our data now? Looking at the updated agreement, there is a hint. One of the things WhatsApp says they will be using that data for is to provide personalized ads within the app, no doubt cross-referencing data from Facebook and Instagram. To be fair, they likely realized they needed to actually make some money with WhatsApp and putting a couple of ads on the screen is an easy way to do that. However, if they go the route of Skype and other apps and start recording and transcribing calls without consent, that will be sure to cause a backlash. Not that they are doing that right now. Hopefully, they stay away from that kind of privacy violation as it would completely destroy the original vision of WhatsApp’s creators.
So why would we speculate as to their intentions? Because the new terms of service are unfortunately pretty opaque. Amongst the data they’ll be collecting now is “how we interact with others”. What does that mean? Anytime there is ambiguity like that, it invites suspicion. Wouldn’t it be better if they just came right out and said everything they plan on doing with your data? Even if people weren’t terribly likely to approve. At least if Facebook told you they were planning on selling your information to the NSA at least you could respect their honesty and have a real choice in the matter. Instead, you have a bunch of vague terminologies that would frustrate a corporate lawyer.
Let’s take another example. They’ll also be collecting users’ IP addresses, location data, and more besides. But don’t worry! “Other data” will be collected only with consent. One wonders what’s meant by “other data” or even what could be meant given how much data they already tell you that they’ll be collecting. The fact they then emphasize they won’t be asking for your name or email as a way to put users’ concerns at ease is just plain laughable. WhatsApp is telling people they are taking every bit of data necessary to figure out who you are. Who cares if you give them your name? They can figure it out, along with where you had lunch based on the data that is getting collected.
Now, it might seem like we’re bashing WhatsApp. And we are a little bit, but it’s in the hopes that they will hear the concerns of users around the world and respond in a positive way that preserves user privacy while still allowing them to make a buck and keep the lights on. Fortunately, we at TARTLE are experts on how to handle user privacy and address the concerns of users and companies alike. We would love to sit down with Facebook or any other company struggling to find the sweet spot on this issue and find solutions that will keep everyone happy.
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