Following the recent news that the messaging app Whatsapp has backtracked and decided to hand over its data to Facebook, Richard Patterson, Director at Comparitech.com says:
"This announcement is not all that surprising given that Facebook has a history of pushing the limits on privacy in an ongoing attempt to increase monetisation of its platforms and keep shareholders happy. You can almost imagine the boardroom discussion: “Sure, this will get us a bit of bad press but it will blow over; yes, we’ll lose a few users but 99.9% of our customers won’t give up WhatsApp and this will make us a truck load more money, so let’s do it. We’ll put out some story about how this will improve user experience and how seriously we take our customers privacy; and all but a few die hard privacy nuts will have forgotten about it by the end of the month.”
‘Users should also be wary that any move which makes the criminal’s job easier, i.e combining your mobile number with a Facebook account should be regarded with much care as cyber criminals will have an easier route to compromising users and stealing their identities. To make sure you’re not making yourself a target, be sure to opt out before the thirty day notice period; or if you’ve really had enough of Facebook being complacent with privacy rights, choose from a number of alternatives to WhatsApp.’