Privacy Policy
Our Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) helps explain our data practices, including the information we process to provide our Services.
For example, our Privacy Policy talks about what information we collect and how this affects you. It also explains the steps we take to protect your privacy, like building our Services so delivered messages aren’t stored by us and giving you control over who you communicate with on our Services.
We are one of the Meta Companies. You can learn more further below in this Privacy Policy about the ways in which we share information across this family of companies.
This Privacy Policy applies to all of our Services unless specified otherwise.
Please also read WhatsApp’s Terms of Service (“Terms”), which describe the terms under which you use and we provide our Services.
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Key Updates
Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA. Since we started WhatsApp, we’ve built our services with a set of strong privacy principles in mind. In our updated Terms of Service and Privacy Policy you’ll find:
Additional Information On How We Handle Your Data. Our updated Terms and Privacy Policy provide more information on how we process your data, and our commitment to privacy. For example, we’ve added more information about more recent product features and functionalities, how we process your data for safety, security, and integrity, and added more direct links to user settings, Help Center articles and how you can manage your information.
Better Communication With Businesses. Many businesses rely on WhatsApp to communicate with their customers and clients. We work with businesses that use Meta or third parties to help store and better manage their communications with you on WhatsApp.
Making It Easier To Connect. As part of the Meta Companies, WhatsApp partners with Meta to offer experiences and integrations across Meta’s family of apps and products.
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Information We Collect
WhatsApp must receive or collect some information to operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services, including when you install, access, or use our Services.
The types of information we receive and collect depend on how you use our Services. We require certain information to deliver our Services and without this we will not be able to provide our Services to you. For example, you must provide your mobile phone number to create an account to use our Services.
Our Services have optional features which, if used by you, require us to collect additional information to provide such features. You will be notified of such collection, as appropriate. If you choose not to provide the information needed to use a feature, you will be unable to use the feature. For example, you cannot share your location with your contacts if you do not permit us to collect your location data from your device. Permissions can be managed through your Settings menu on both Android and iOS devices.
We collect information to provide better services to all our users — from figuring out basic stuff like which language you speak, to more complex things like which ads you’ll find most useful, the people who matter most to you online, or which YouTube videos you might like. The information Google collects, and how that information is used, depends on how you use our services and how you manage your privacy controls.
When you’re not signed in to a Google Account, we store the information we collect with unique identifiers tied to the browser, application, or device you’re using. This allows us to do things like maintain your preferences across browsing sessions, such as your preferred language or whether to show you more relevant search results or ads based on your activity.
When you’re signed in, we also collect information that we store with your Google Account, which we treat as personal information.