WhatsApp is an important tool in the lives of many of the one billion people on its user database. It's used by a whole host of people to stay in touch and share images, videos, documents, as well as the traditional voice call too. It was announced on February 19th 2014 that Facebook had acquired the company, but the founders would still be heavily involved in the company.
A blog post on the WhatsApp website assured the users that nothing would change in the aftermath of this takeover.
Fast forward to August 25th 2016. The WhatsApp team published a post on their blog entitled "Looking ahead for WhatsApp". The detail contained within this post caused for the proverbial to hit the fan, so to speak. Take a read of the closing few paragraphs of this post, published yesterday afternoon.
Do you see what they did there? They lead with the fact that they've given us, the users, end-to-end encryption before mentioning the Facebook crossover.
As I read it, the first thought that popped into my brain was "I knew this was going to happen". That isn't because I'm a technology correspondent or a psychic. No - I knew it was going to happen, because it's business, baby! Zuck was never going to leave that incredibly valuable information sitting within touching distance. He's too clever for that. Truth be told, I'm sure many of us would do the same thing.
What WhatsApp and Facebook are saying will happen is that there will be a better offering to us, the consumer, once our numbers are handed over. We'll get an even more personalised service.
Sigh.
Opt out
Knowing full well that many people would not be happy with this development, WhatsApp are giving consumers 30-days to opt out of service and ensure their number is not passed onto Facebook. The full details on the two opt-out methods are detailed here.
You will see a control at the bottom of the screen. If you do not want your account information shared with Facebook to improve your Facebook ads and products experiences, you can uncheck the box or toggle the control.
This article was originally published on August 26th, 2016.
