WhatsApp will start to share account data with Facebook owned companies so the social network can show more relevant advertisements to users. The option will be enabled by default but users can disable it in the first month.
The popular chat app was acquired by Facebook in 2014 which made the chat app free. Previously WhatsApp used a subscription model because the founder of the chat app, Jan Koum, believed that when the app would be free the 'user becomes the product'. While Facebook is still not going to show advertisement in WhatsApp, the user indeed seems to become the product now it's part of Facebook.
Contents of WhatsApp messages won't be used as they are end-to-end encrypted and only viewable by the sender and receiver. However metadata, such a who a user is in contact with, how frequent and the database with phone numbers can be shared between WhatsApp and Facebook. According to the companies this can be used to provide better contact suggestions, fight abuse and spam and to make Facebook advertisements more relevant. It should e.g. be possible for WhatsApp to select which companies are allowed to contact an user, this could be when the user has been in contact with a company on Facebook before.
The chat app could be used in the future by companies to contact you through order, transaction, and appointment information, delivery and shipping notifications and product and service updates. However, the new terms and conditions also specifically mention, marketing which is explained in the FAQ as, "messages you may receive containing marketing could include an offer for something that might interest you."
WhatsApp stresses that it doesn't want users to have a 'spammy experience'. It's also possible to opt out. This can be done when the app is updated and the user has to agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. When scrolling down (but who does?) there will be a checkbox that is checked by default. When checked you agree to share WhatsApp data with Facebook. Users that don't want that, can uncheck it.
After agreeing to the terms there is another possibility, navigate to Settings > Account > Share my account info in the app and uncheck the 'Share my account info' checkbox.
Data isn't only shared with Facebook, the social network but also with other companies that are part of the Facebook Family. This also includes Instagram, FriendFeed, Drop.io and Oculus VR.
