A few months after leaving, Acton cofounded the nonprofit Signal Foundation. The slow shift toward integration has been controversial internally, and may have contributed to the departure in late 20, respectively, of WhatsApp cofounders Brian Acton and Jan Koum. But in fact the company says that the privacy policy deletion simply reflects how WhatsApp has shared data with Facebook since 2016 for the vast majority of its now 2 billion-plus users.įacebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014 and noted at the time that it and the company's chat platform Messenger would operate as “standalone” products. Some media outlets and confused WhatsApp users understandably assumed that this meant WhatsApp had finally crossed a line, requiring data-sharing with no alternative. As part of that privacy policy refresh, WhatsApp also removed a passage about opting out of sharing certain data with Facebook: 'If you are an existing user, you can choose not to have your WhatsApp account information shared with Facebook to improve your Facebook ads and products experiences.' A pop-up has been notifying users that as of February 8, the app's privacy policy will change and they must accept the terms to keep using the app. On Monday, WhatsApp updated its terms of use and privacy policy, primarily to expand on its practices around how WhatsApp business users can store their communications. Many of them experienced a rude awakening this week, as a new in-app notification raises awareness about a step WhatsApp actually took to share more with Facebook back in 2016.

Since Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014, users have wondered and worried about how much data would flow between the two platforms.

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