WhatsApp and Mandatory Data Sharing Agreement

WhatsApp, the online messaging application acquired by facebook in 2014, updated its privacy policy in the first week of 2021. Whatsapp has announced that from February 8, 2021, if users do not agree to share their data with facebook on a mandatory basis, they will not be able to use the application. With this update, millions of users deleted the application and turned to applications such as telegram, beep, signal.

Current status

12/01/2021: the personal data protection board issued a public notice informing that the issue would be considered.

We know that the terms of use of the Whatsapp application have been updated to include consent to the processing of personal data of users who wish to use the application and the sharing and transfer of personal data with business partners, service providers, suppliers and other third parties located abroad.

A notification has been sent to everyone who uses the application that if they do not agree to the agreement, all users who do not consent will have their accounts deleted and that they will not be able to use the application.

Personal data can only be processed if the explicit consent of the person concerned is obtained. Explicit consent, on the other hand, must be related to a specific subject, and must be freely disclosed and informed. Thus, following this announcement, it was decided to launch a review for whatsapp by kvkk (the agency for the protection of personal data).

With the launch of an investigation by the Turkish competition board into whatsapp and facebook, the obligation to share users' data has been stopped.

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Information collected by Whatsapp

When we review the most current privacy policy shared by Whatsapp, we see that they collect data in three categories. The data collected by whatsapp, which explains that it continues to improve privacy through end-to-end encryption, includes data provided by users, automatically collected information and third-party information.

Data provided by users

• account information including mobile phone number, profile photo, profile name
• forwarded messages, undelivered messages and shared media
• contacts, information of numbers in the phone book
• status information
• payment accounts, transaction information, payment method, shipping details and transaction amount
• Copies of email address and message for customer support

Automatically collected data

• usage and registration information, including settings, log files, website-performance logs, messaging, calls, group information, time, frequency, and duration of transactions and interactions
• profile photo, about me section information, last seen information, and their most recent update dates
• hardware model of the app-connected device, operating system, battery level, and connection information including connection information, signal strength, application version, browser information, mobile network, internet provider, ip address
• location information
• cookies
• language preferences

Third-party information

• information that others provide about the user
• user complaints
• businesses on whatsapp
• third party service providers (mentioned that data shared with third party service providers, including Facebook, may be permitted to communicate with them for the purpose of storing, reading, managing, and otherwise processing by those providers).
• Data usage between facebook companies and whatsapp

According to the Whatsapp data sharing policy, there are main reasons why users share their data with facebook companies. Among them are content such as improving infrastructure and distribution systems, understanding the use of services, improving security and integrity, combating infringement activities, improving user experience, featuring ads and offers across facebook, and integrating whatsapp and facebook company products.

Sources:

https://www. Kvkk. Gov. tr/icerik/6855/whatsapp-app-about-public-announcement
https://www. Whatsapp. com/legal/updates/privacy-policy? eea=0 #privacy -policy-updates-how-we-work-with-other-facebookcompanies
https://www. Istanbulbaros. Org. tr/NewsDetail. aspx? id=16148&desc=Public-Announcement- (whatsapp)

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