WhatsApp users could
soon start seeing more targeted ads on Facebook.
Global messaging service WhatsApp says
it will start sharing the phone numbers of its users with Facebook, its parent
company. That means WhatsApp users could soon start seeing more targeted ads on
Facebook although not on the messaging service itself.
The move is a subtle but significant
shift for WhatsApp, which has long promised to safeguard the privacy of more
than 1 billion users around the world. WhatsApp is giving users a limited time
to opt out of sharing their information with Facebook, although they must take
the extra step of unchecking a box to do so. It also says Facebook won’t post
phone numbers online or give them out to anyone.
But the giant social network has been
looking for ways to make money from WhatsApp since it bought the service two
years ago, in an eye-popping deal ultimately worth $21.8 billion. At the same
time, Facebook has pledged not to interfere with a longstanding promise by
WhatsApp’s co-founders to respect users’ privacy and keep ads off its messaging
platform.
WhatsApp on Thursday offered a glimpse
of its plans for turning on the money spigot, releasing new documents that
describe the company’s privacy policy and the terms of service that users must
agree to follow. The documents are the first revision of those policies since
2012, before Facebook acquired WhatsApp.
One change follows through on previous
hints by WhatsApp executives, who have said they’re exploring ways for
businesses to communicate with customers on WhatsApp. That could include using
WhatsApp to provide receipts, confirm a reservation or update the status of a
delivery.
Companies could also send marketing
offers or messages about sales to individual customers, according to the new
documents, which note that users will be able to control or block such
messages. WhatsApp says it will continue to bar traditional display ads from
its service.
“We do not want you to have a spammy
experience,” the company tells users in a summary of the new policies.
Another change is potentially more
controversial- WhatsApp says it will begin “coordinating” accounts with
Facebook by sharing WhatsApp users’ mobile phone numbers and device
information, such as the type of operating system and other smartphone characteristics.
The company says Facebook will employ the phone number internally to better
identify WhatsApp users on Facebook, so it can recommend friends or show
targeted advertising.
The ads would come through a Facebook
programme called “Custom Audiences,” which lets a business upload lists of
customers and phone numbers or other contact information the business has
collected from warranty cards or other sources. Facebook matches the list to
users with the same information and shows them ads. Facebook says it doesn’t
give out users’ information to advertisers.
WhatsApp phone numbers are valuable to
Facebook. While the social network already has many phone numbers, it doesn’t
require users to provide them, and doesn’t always have the most current number
for everyone on Facebook. But anyone on WhatsApp must provide a current phone
number because that’s how WhatsApp knows where to deliver messages.
The coordination of accounts may draw
fire from privacy advocates. WhatsApp has long promised not to employ user data
for advertising. Its acquisition by Facebook two years ago sparked complaints
from activists who worried the new owner would start mining WhatsApp accounts.
Though both companies pledged WhatsApp would operate separately from its
parent, the Federal Trade Commission warned them publicly, in a 2014 letter,
against changing how they employ WhatsApp user data without users’ consent.
WhatsApp says current users have up to
30 days to accept the new policy terms or stop using the service. Once they
accept, they have 30 more days to opt out of sharing with Facebook.
Privacy groups have praised WhatsApp for
building powerful encryption into its services, making it impossible for the
company or anyone else to read users’ messages. WhatsApp promises that
encryption will remain, so neither WhatsApp nor Facebook would be able to use
message content for advertising purposes.
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