Learn how you can stop WhatsApp from sharing your account info including your phone number with Facebook. You can change the setting in your WhatsApp account app on your device anytime but sooner is better.
In the recent term and privacy policy update, WhatsApp announced they will start to share some of your personal info including your phone number with Facebook. However, even you agree to this term, this doesn’t mean WhatsApp will post your info on Facebook.
There are few important agreements in the recent update that you should seriously take note and aware of because this is regarding your privacy. Here are some of the important messages I want to emphasize to let you realize and understand if you haven’t already.
See also how to stop Facebook from stealing your phone contacts.
Stop WhatsApp from sharing phone number with Facebook
The first important agreement is that they’ve rolled out end-to-end encryption, your messages are encrypted by default, which means you’re the only people who can read them. Not WhatsApp, not Facebook, nor anyone else.
Also, they will be sharing your phone number with Facebook’s system to offer you better friend suggestion and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them.
However, WhatsApp won’t post or share your WhatsApp number with others, including on Facebook, and they still won’t sell, share, or give your phone number to advertisers (for now).
If you are an existing user and already accepted and agreed to their term and privacy policy, it is still not too late. You can opt-out to sharing your info and phone number with Facebook in your WhatsApp account setting.
Open your WhatsApp app, go to Settings > Account. There should be “Share my account info” and a box option. Uncheck that box and done!