WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 2 billion active users. Since 2014, WhatsApp has been owned by Facebook. This has led to questions around how much data WhatsApp shares with Facebook, especially sensitive information like phone numbers.
In this article, we’ll look at the evidence around whether WhatsApp shares your phone number with Facebook. We’ll cover:
- The background of WhatsApp’s acquisition by Facebook
- What WhatsApp’s privacy policy says about sharing data with Facebook
- Public statements from WhatsApp founders and Facebook
- Technical analyses on data flows between WhatsApp and Facebook
- Lawsuits and investigations into data sharing practices
- Summary of findings
The short answer is: currently, WhatsApp does not share your phone number with Facebook by default for advertising purposes. However, WhatsApp does share some data with Facebook for business purposes like infrastructure and security.
Background of WhatsApp’s acquisition by Facebook
WhatsApp started as an independent company in 2009. In February 2014, Facebook announced its plans to acquire WhatsApp for $19 billion. At the time, WhatsApp was the largest acquisition ever made by Facebook.
The founders of WhatsApp have emphasized keeping strong privacy protections for users during and after the Facebook acquisition. When the acquisition was announced, WhatsApp published a blog post stating that nothing would change for users.
Specifically, the company said they could not see messages or hear calls made with WhatsApp and neither could Facebook. They also could not see WhatsApp users’ contacts or share contact information with Facebook. This privacy promise was key to getting users to trust the app after being acquired by Facebook.
What WhatsApp’s privacy policy says
WhatsApp’s privacy policy outlines what data is collected and how it’s used or shared. The policy has been updated several times over the years, sometimes leading to confusion around what data is actually shared with Facebook.
Here’s what WhatsApp’s current privacy policy says about sharing data with Facebook:
- WhatsApp may share certain categories of data with Facebook like account information, service-related info, and information about how you interact with others. This data helps Facebook provide services that are part of WhatsApp.
- WhatsApp DOES NOT share your contacts with Facebook. This includes phone numbers of both you and your contacts.
- Some technical data like IP addresses, device info, and crash reports may be shared to provide a stable, bug-free service.
- Businesses you interact with via WhatsApp may share info with Facebook for ads analytics. But you can choose not to interact with those businesses.
So in summary, WhatsApp claims in its privacy policy it does not share your personal contacts and phone number with Facebook. Some technical data is shared to provide the service. You have control over whether businesses can share your chats with Facebook.
Public statements from founders and Facebook
The founders of WhatsApp have made public statements reinforcing that personal data like phone numbers are not shared with Facebook.
In 2016, founder Jan Koum posted that “Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA, and we built WhatsApp around the goal of knowing as little about you as possible.”
In a 2018 Senate hearing, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said “We [Facebook] don’t see any of the content in WhatsApp, it’s fully encrypted.” Implying Facebook does not have access to WhatsApp user phone numbers which could identify individuals.
However, Facebook CFO Dave Wehner made a statement suggesting the possibility of linking Facebook and WhatsApp data in the future:
“There are opportunities to monetize data across our different properties and we’re going to continue to explore that.”.
Facebook has made other public statements saying they want to link the infrastructure between all their services at a technical level while keeping user data private. Overall the public statements indicate no current sharing of personal phone numbers, but leaves the possibility open in the future.
Technical analyses
Several technical security researchers have dug into the actual network traffic and code for WhatsApp to determine what info is shared with Facebook.
Researchers found that WhatsApp currently shares some analytics data with Facebook like device info and usage stats. But there was no evidence of sharing personal user data like phone numbers or message contents.
Some analyses found that WhatsApp web sessions Initiated from Facebook’s servers, suggesting a connection between the services. However this could be for syncing WhatsApp web sessions rather than accessing user data.
Cybersecurity company ProPrivacy released a report in 2020 analyzing WhatsApp network traffic. They found no unusual or suspicious requests going to Facebook servers that would indicate personal data being shared without user consent.
Overall, the technical research has not been able to prove any sharing of personal user data like phone numbers or messages between WhatsApp and Facebook. While some analytics data is shared, this does not necessarily identify individual users.
Lawsuits and investigations
There have been a few lawsuits and government investigations into WhatsApp’s data sharing practices with Facebook:
- In August 2016, the Delhi High Court investigated whether WhatsApp sharing user data like phone numbers with Facebook prior to obtaining consent in 2016 breached privacy laws.
- In 2017, the Italian Antitrust Authority fined Facebook €3 million for forcing WhatsApp users to agree to share data with Facebook to continue using the service.
- In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and states attorney generals sued Facebook for anticompetitive practices, including concerns around integrating Facebook and WhatsApp data.
The outcomes of these lawsuits and investigations have not conclusively proven that WhatsApp actively shares user phone numbers with Facebook without consent. However, they highlight governments are monitoring WhatsApp and Facebook to ensure proper data privacy practices are followed.
Summary of findings
Based on reviewing WhatsApp’s privacy policy, public statements, technical analyses, and legal investigations, here’s a summary:
- WhatsApp does not share your personal phone number or contacts with Facebook by default.
- Some analytics data may be shared to provide integrated services across Facebook’s apps.
- WhatsApp cannot see your messages or calls as they are end-to-end encrypted.
- Facebook may have technical ways to link your identity across WhatsApp and their other platforms if you use them.
- WhatsApp has stated they do not allow third-party ads on the platform currently.
- Government investigations have not conclusively proven unauthorized sharing of personal data.
Based on the evidence, WhatsApp does not appear to be actively sharing your personal phone number with Facebook without consent. But Facebook seems to be keeping open the technical possibility to cross-link identities and share more data in the future.
Many users opt to share their phone contacts with WhatsApp in order to use the service. This contact data likely makes its way to Facebook for analytics purposes or connecting identities across platforms.
In summary, while your phone number is likely not being directly shared by WhatsApp with Facebook now, you are still linking your identity across the platforms by using Facebook-owned apps. Facebook may find ways to utilize this link behind-the-scenes in the future, even without direct access to your phone number.
Conclusion
WhatsApp was built to provide secure, private messaging. Its founders and privacy policies emphasize protecting user data and not sharing personal info like phone numbers with Facebook.
Technical analyses have not revealed WhatsApp sending user phone numbers to Facebook. But Facebook’s infrastructure does facilitate links between accounts across their platforms.
For now, WhatsApp appears to keep its promise to not share your personal phone number with Facebook. But users should be aware that Facebook likely has technical ways to connect your identity across its apps if you use them.
Facebook seems intent on finding ways to integrate WhatsApp further into their business model. While they may not access your phone number directly, they can still utilize the linkage of your cross-platform identity for advertising purposes.
The debate around WhatsApp sharing data with Facebook will likely continue as the platforms evolve. As users, we must stay vigilant in understanding privacy policies and scrutinizing what data flows where across the interconnected Facebook empire.