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WhatsApp To Share User Data With Facebook-Here’s How To Opt Out

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On 25th August 2016, WhatsApp announced in a blog post that it will start sharing user data with Facebook for ad-targeting. Which stirs a huge debate among WhatsApp users and other privacy advocates. The debate is very obvious as it is against what WhatsApp was promising since its inception. WhatsApp now has over 1 billion users, the key point of this much user base is that WhatsApp always promises that it would protect users privacy.

When Facebook purchased WhatsApp for a whooping sum, everyone questioned why. Now, all of you have the answers to your why. When the partnership was announced back in 2014, WhatsApp owners wrote in a blog post:

WhatsApp will remain autonomous and operate independently. You can continue to enjoy the service for a nominal fee. You can continue to use WhatsApp no matter where in the world you are, or what smartphone you’re using. And you can still count on absolutely no ads interrupting your communication. There would have been no partnership between our two companies if we had to compromise on the core principles that will always define our company, our vision and our product.

Clearly this announcement is in contrary to all the promises WhatsApp and Facebook made many times publicly. The good thing is, in the first 30 days,WhatsApp is allowing users for a partial opt out of data sharing. Here is how you can opt out of data sharing. Please do remember, once you have opted out, you won’t be able to change this in the future.

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When you open your WhatsApp after the update, you will see a Terms & Privacy Policy screen and a button to agree to the new Terms & Privacy Policy.

For Android & Windows Phone Users:

  • On the Terms and Privacy Policy Screen, you need to tap on the “Read more about the key updates to our Terms and Privacy Policy” near the bottom of the screen. Next screen will show you the key updates to WhatsApp terms and policy and at the near bottom a check box to opt out.
  • Uncheck the box and click on agree.
  • If you missed it at first, then also you can opt out within 30 days. Just go to Settings > Account > Uncheck the box in front of “Share my account info”.
  • Done.

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For iOS Users:

  • On the Terms and Privacy Policy Screen, you need to tap on the “Read more about the key updates to our Terms and Privacy Policy” near the bottom of the screen. Next screen will show you the key updates to WhatsApp terms and policy and at the near bottom a toggle button to opt out.
  • Toggle the button to disable it and click on agree.
  • If you missed it at first, then also you can opt out within 30 days. Just go to Settings > Account > Toggle the button in front of “Share my account info”.
  • Done.

If you have not updated WhatsApp recently or have opted out already, you will not be able to see above options in Settings.

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