Facebook has finally ruined whatsapp

WhatsApp will now pass on users' information to parent company Facebook. The latest change – announced on the official company blog – marks a dramatic change for the hugely-successful

messaging service. When the messenger was bought by Facebook back in 2014, the founder assured users their data would remain private – separate from the social network. "Respect for

your privacy is coded into our DNA, and we built WhatsApp around the goal of knowing as little about you as possible,” the privacy policy read. Speaking during the acquisition, Facebook

founder Mark Zuckerberg said: "It would be pretty stupid of us to interfere." But that appears to have changed. WhatsApp has announced a number of changes to its terms and privacy

policy – the first in four years – that allows the chat app to hand-over information to Facebook. Under the new changes, Facebook is able to see the phone number that people have associated

with their WhatsApp account. That allows the US social network to link and track profiles between the two services, helping Facebook gather more data for its advertisements. WhatsApp claims

the changes will make the experience better for its users. "By coordinating more with Facebook, we'll be able to do things like track basic metrics about how often people use our

services and better fight spam on WhatsApp," the company explained on its blog. "And by connecting your phone number with Facebook's systems, Facebook can offer better friend

suggestions and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them. "For example, you might see an ad from a company you already work with, rather than one from someone

you've never heard of." The world's most popular messenger assured users that its “belief in the value of private communications is unshakeable, and we remain committed to

giving you the fastest, simplest, and most reliable experience on WhatsApp”. The criteria ranges from the obvious – age, hometown, school, friends – to the downright bizarre. For example,

Facebook keeps a record of when you've recently started a new relationship, calculates how much money you are likely to spend on your next car, tracks what operating system you are

using to login to the social network, and more. It will even track the types of credit cards you have owned. If you would like to opt-out and stop WhatsApp sharing your data with Facebook

you should uncheck the small box above the Agree button when asked to accept the revised terms. Secondly, you can navigate to your account settings at any point within the first 30 days

after agreeing to the new terms and remove a tick from the dialogue box.