It took a while, but it has happened – Facebook will soon get WhatsApp’s user account data to improve “your experience” on Facebook.
This information first came to light when freelance Android developer Javier Santos started using one of the beta updates which WhatsApp regularly rolls out before making a public release.
According to screenshots shared by him, it is clear that soon, WhatsApp user account information will be shared with Facebook. This feature is currently being tested out in WhatsApp beta version 2.12.413.
Here are the screenshot that show WhatsApp requesting users to share their information with Facebook.
It is interesting that this feature is being rolled out now – Just a week back, WhatsApp had declared that they will be doing away with $1 subscription fees. The timing of that announcement, and this update is surely not a coincidence. It probably was just a carrot for more sinister things to follow ( ‘Sinister’ may sound a little too harsh, but it is)
When Facebook acquired WhatsApp, the founders had categorically stated that both the entities would continue to operate independently. However, with this new update, it is clear that Facebook is now looking at using WhatsApp account user data to bring even more user intelligence to their already intelligent (in terms of user preferences) platform.
[Suggested Reading: Why Facebook Acquired WhatsApp for $19 Billion]
Thankfully, WhatsApp is giving option to user to disable sharing of data with Facebook.
Unfortunately, most of the users will not even understand this, and majority of them will eventually share their data with Facebook.
Why is Facebook/WhatsApp doing it?
Facebook wants to ever improve their algorithms – they want to improve on relevancy of content shown on their timeline. WhatsApp data will surely help Facebook to increase relevancy. While WhatsApp does not ask for demographic information, every WhatsApp account has user’s mobile number and that may help Facebook in various ways.
Increased relevancy will also help Facebook to show relevant ads, thereby bettering their advertising platform as well.
Apart from this, many WhatsApp users do not have a Facebook account. Facebook will definitely try to get in touch with them to create Facebook accounts.
We are still not sure about what all “account information” will be share with Facebook, but if WhatsApp is providing user stats and frequency of messaging, it will help Facebook understand the user better.
[…] […]