The recent changes to WhatsApp’s privacy policy, requiring users to share their data with owner Facebook or leave the platform altogether, have drawn the ire of many users, and even fellow tech entrepreneurs.
Boom Bust is joined by legal journalist Mollye Barrows of America’s Lawyer to break down how one of the world’s popular messengers could use your data, and why it essentially needs it. She says that harvesting such a large amount of information could be necessary for advertising purposes, despite the company not wanting to say it directly.
“They say they want to use it in a variety of ways – to help refine, customize, respond, all of these fantastic descriptors. But really it doesn’t say much, except that they want our data so that they can, you know, know how to best get into our pocketbooks” she said.
“The real thing I think needs to happen is that people need to be able to sell their data. If it’s so valuable, why can’t we capitalize on it ourselves?” Barrows added.
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