WhatsApp will update its conditions and privacy policy: what will change?

WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook in 2014. More than 6 years have passed and Mark Zuckerberg's company has made several attempts to integrate its three messaging platforms into one. In this way, Facebook's plans are to merge Instagram Direct, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp For now, this great project has not fully materialized and WhatsApp has continued functioning more or less independently.Until now.

Finally, WhatsApp's terms of use and privacy policy will be updated to allow data exchange between the messaging application and FacebookThese changes will come into effect next month and will upend the isolation WhatsApp enjoyed from its parent company's conglomerate of services.

It will be mandatory to accept these changes unless you live in Europe

Do not accept the changes proposed in the update of WhatsApp's rules of use You could lose your account That is, from February 8, it will be necessary to agree to the transmission of information between WhatsApp and Facebook. Otherwise, the company itself cordially invites you to delete your account

There is only one exception to this strict rule: Users living in the European Union Thanks to data protection regulations, Also known as GDPR, WhatsApp will not be allowed to share user data with the rest of the company, unless expressly authorized. The countries that have such protection are the following:

• Germany
• Andorra
• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Vatican City
• Croatia
• Denmark
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Greece
• Guadalupe
• French Guiana
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Iceland
• Isle of Man
• Italy
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• M alt
• Monaco
• Norway
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal
• United Kingdom
• Czech Republic
• Republic of Cyprus
• Romania
• San Marino
• Sweden
• Swiss

In all of these territories, users are under the control of the WhatsApp Ireland Limited corporation and not WhatsApp LLC.Therefore, the conditions of use and the privacy policy are adapted to the agreements established with the European Commission. As a consequence, you can reject the exchange of data between WhatsApp and Facebook without having to lose your account.

What data will WhatsApp share with Facebook from February?

According to the official information that WhatsApp makes available to users on its website, the data they will share with Facebook includes your account registration information, for example, the phone number, operations data, information related to the service and about how you interact with other users andwith companies that use WhatsApp Business. Data related to the device you use and the IP address are also collected.

What is the purpose of providing all this data to Facebook? Some of the main reasons Facebook wants such information are:

• Improve the service and the infrastructure of the platform itself.
• Analyze how users use your services.
• Improve the security of the company's services. This is aimed at establishing protection and integrity systems that fight against spam, threats, abuse or activities that break the law.
• Improve the use experience of all services and personalize it for each user. Includes customization of functions, content and, of course, the .
• Allow the use and integration of other Facebook services in WhatsApp. A good example of this is Facebook Messenger rooms or the integration of the Facebook Pay payment gateway.

In short, it is inevitable that WhatsApp will eventually merge completely into the Facebook ecosystem and the change in its terms of use portends that this will happen very soon.