The data-privacy issues around WhatsApp have reached a critical state. After the acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook they constantly increase the amount of data being collected and use it to fuel recommendation algorithms of their other services.
Data privacy in WhatsApp? It does not exist
Have you ever asked yourself why Facebook is constantly asking you to give them your phone number allegedly to make your experience more secure? It is simply the easiest way for them to link your WhatsApp identity with your Facebook and Instagram identity.
The sheer amount of data harvested through WhatsApp is hard to grasp. Even before the change of their privacy policy, initially planned to become active on February 8, 2021, but delayed multiple times after a huge backlash. In fact, relatively speaking the privacy policy change was not all that bad, because it already was horrific before. The privacy policy change only allowed businesses you contacted through WhatsApp to use your data for marketing purposes on Facebook and Instagram. Even before the update, the service already shared your phone number, device ID, operating system version as well as usage data and metadata with Facebook. This data is by no means collected anonymously. Instead, it is deliberately linked to your ID.
In many cases, WhatsApp’s privacy policy is intransparent but Apple’s newly introduced privacy labels for apps in the App Store have shed some light on the situation.
Just to give an example, the metadata of every single message sent through WhatsApp is shared with Facebook. It contains among other things a timestamp and IP address. This allows Facebook to keep track of your location and behavior and use it to influence you.
How Facebook uses your data from WhatsApp to shape you
A common misconception is that this data is only used for the personalization of actual advertisements. In fact, all the data collected about users determine which recommendations they get on Facebook and Instagram, in which order posts appear in their feed and for which posts they get notifications.
For instance, only the device ID can tell a lot about an individual. A person who always has the latest flagship smartphone can likely be considered wealthier than a person who has had the same phone for five years.
Now think about what Facebook can do with the location information they get with every message you send. Let’s say the algorithm detects the following pattern: every couple of days at a similar time you move to a specific location. It then finds that this correlates with you using the platform less frequently. It will consequently present you with content, which has a high probability of keeping you from repeating this behavior.
Facebook is slowly shaping you into their perfect customer, spending the maximum amount of time possible on their platforms and if that means you will end up being a hate-filled right-wing populist, their algorithm will gladly do so. As the recently leaked Facebook Papers have shown, they prefer profit over everything with absolutely zero ethical standards.
Facebook can read every WhatsApp message
A recent investigation found that Facebook processes every message, filtering them for specific keywords. If such a keyword has been found, a snippet of the conversation is forwarded to a moderator for further evaluation. Additionally, the same moderating process will be initiated if any user manually reports another user. Even though Facebook has acknowledged what the investigation found out, they still – to this day – claim on their website that they do not read your messages.
WhatsApp cannot see your personal messages or hear your calls and neither can Facebook.
WhatsApp Security and Privacy FAQ
Although WhatsApp uses the Signal Protocol, which has been found cryptographically sound and secure in several audits, Facebook stores every user’s private key on their servers, giving them the ability to read every single message sent through their network.
So just be aware of the fact that every message, image, video, or document you send through WhatsApp can and will be evaluated, both automatically by machines and manually by humans.
Facebook shares WhatsApp messages with law enforcement
According to the same investigation, Facebook has agreements with governments in several countries to share user data upon request. Extended agreements exist at least in the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil and, India, where other countries might only receive data to a lesser extent. The provided data includes the user’s messaging patterns, meaning at which time and location a user had contact with which other users. In at least one case, the conviction of the alleged Russian agent Natalie Edwards, we know that Facebook shared not only usage data but also deciphered WhatsApp messages with the FBI. In total Facebook has responded to over 211,000 requests until today, from law enforcement all over the world. Although many of the world’s worst criminals have been convicted through such reports, it also allows governments to prey on their opposition, people who would generally not be considered criminals.
With WhatsApp Facebook has essentially created the largest honeypot for alleged criminals and dissidents, by deceiving them about the security of the messenger. The governments have little interest in forcing Facebook to make their privacy statements about WhatsApp clearer since they hugely profit from their ability to decrypt their user’s messages.
I wonder if Facebook has really the power and algorithms to efficiently use and process all that collected data …