![]() ![]() WhatsApp collects an alarming amount of data - including metadata, personal identifying information (PII), payment information, and detailed device data. WhatsApp collects and sends tons of data to Facebook/Meta In 2021, a sizable amount of users migrated to alternative messaging platforms such as Signal after a poorly communicated update to WhatsApp privacy policy. ![]() Let's also not forget that Meta collects so much user data from its various platforms that, according to a leak from a Facebook Engineer, Facebook has "lost control of user data." Allegedly, this loss of control has resulted in Meta being unable to answer what is done with user data, where exactly user data goes, and unable to comply with various international privacy laws.Īllegedly, Instagram - another Meta company - was privy to detailed internal reporting citing the platform "knew Instagram was toxic for teen girls." Researchers at Meta found that Instagram is harmful for a sizable percentage of young users (under 22). The more user data Meta has, on average the more money they can make off each user – by selling highly accurate profiles of any given user. The bottom line is: All of the Meta companies function primarily on user engagement – the more users engage with their platforms, the more data becomes available for collection. Sure, user messages are still end-to-end encrypted within (some) reason and WhatsApp features have "expanded." However, in the acquisition of WhatsApp, Meta obtained another highly valuable source of data all under the guise of "connecting people" while adding incredible reading time to its privacy policy and terms of use agreement. Over the years, as WhatsApp has been assimilated into Meta, WhatsApp has also turned into another data collecting machine. Arguably, Meta undermined the security and privacy the independent WhatsApp once stood for, as seen in the ever-growing length of WhatsApp's privacy policy and the numerous privacy scandals surrounding Meta itself. ![]() Meta's acquisition of WhatsApp effectively eliminated their closest competitor, consequently reducing user choice and further centralizing the messaging landscape. Instead, Meta "threw money" at the "problem" and sought to acquire and assimilate the competition. (For what it's worth, WhatsApp as an independent company was committed to end-user security and privacy.) Meta had detailed insights on WhatsApp, a quickly growing competitor in their market at the time and did not use this data to directly improve their own product. At the time of purchase (and also as of writing), WhatsApp was (is) the most popular mobile messaging platform around the globe.Īccording to leaked internal Facebook documents, Meta closely eyed WhatsApp primarily because of their user engagement metrics, which were far superior to their own messaging platform, Facebook Messenger. ![]() In 2014, Meta (at this point in time, Facebook) acquired WhatsApp for $16 billion. Over the years, Meta’s notable acquisitions include: These acquisitions dwarf competition, promoting the excessive centralization of a number of resources – to include troves of user data.
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