WhatsApp’s new privacy rules are no surprise, but reveal opportunism

WhatsApp has started rolling out a new terms of service contract to global users. Its simple message: sign off on all the data we are asking, or sign out, which is hardly an option for nearly half the Indian population addicted to the encrypted messaging platform.

To many, the threat seems stark. But that is only because WhatsApp has so far allowed users the option to not share their data with Facebook. Such indulgence — if one could call it — is hardly the industry norm. Most set ‘all-or-nothing’ terms, and we are used to signing off on the terms for software services ranging from Gmail to Microsoft Office with barely a thought.

With websites, consent has become slightly more nuanced since the European Union’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) came into force in 2018. So, some websites offer users a range of data-sharing options. In reality, it is meaningless because online users have no time, inclination or understanding to read the fine print. This is why the onus is on regulators to protect users from one-sided, and often arbitrary, contracts.

Global regulators have lagged in waking up to the threat from large tech and in building consensus. They are likely being outfoxed, too. Indian regulators, in particular, have been extremely tardy. We still don’t have a data privacy law, with Coronavirus adding to the delay. But the draft Bill being evaluated by a parliamentary panel has not considered any curbs on use of cross-platform data — such as Facebook’s access to data across its eponymous social network, Instagram and WhatsApp, or the kind Google aggregates across search, mail and a zillion other things.

In more regulated Europe, some individual countries, and in some cases courts, have sought to limit Facebook’s cross-platform data-sharing but policymakers have not put anything in law that prevents Facebook from aggregating the data across its social networks.

Only recently, European regulators explored curbs on that practice when reviewing Google’s proposed acquisition of Fitbit, a maker of wearable fitness monitors. For the price of signing off, European regulators sought and received a commitment from the Internet giant to not use Fitbit users’ data for any advertising for a period of two years. That decision may have prompted Facebook to exempt WhatsApp users in the EU and United Kingdom from the new data-sharing terms, and deter any regulatory retaliation.

The truth is, Facebook remains several steps ahead of regulators. It has often done this by saying one thing, and doing quite another. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been quite the master of deflection. For example, when privacy heat grew, he wrote a 3,237-word post, outlining his vision of a ‘privacy-focused’ world. But then he began tweaking WhatsApp’s branding, adding a Facebook logo into it, and went about integrating the three messaging platforms — WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger.

WhatsApp’s recent amendment of its terms of service likely has come about for two reasons. One is the sweeping privacy change Apple is introducing next month, requiring all apps to disclose far greater details about data collection. Early reports detailing WhatsApp’s data gathering are mind-blowing and likely far ahead of other tech giants. Zuckerberg fought a losing battle with Apple with full-page ads in leading American dailies denouncing the privacy changes. But he likely decided to bite the bullet and win user consent for WhatsApp’s data guzzling policies.

The second reason is monetisation of the free messaging platform. WhatsApp already has business users and a payments platform. But commercialisation is at a nascent stage and progress has been slow — maybe deliberately so, to not draw needless attention from regulators and critics.

A WhatsApp spokesperson who declined to speak on the record told Ars Technica the recent change is part of a previously disclosed initiative to allow businesses to store and manage WhatsApp chats using Facebook's infrastructure. In effect, the change is primarily to feed the user data to businesses, and drive revenue.

Users, of course, have the option to not engage with any businesses on the platform or even block businesses from chats. Consequently, the spin offered by WhatsApp is that ordinary users will be unimpacted by the new terms of service. For all the flutter about the new terms of service, it could quickly be back to business as usual on WhatsApp until regulators step in.