When you use WhatsApp, this is data it collects and records for user tracking according to Apple App Store

This is important for users. Now, for the first time users at least those using WhatsApp on the iPhone — can see all the information that WhatsApp collects from users and then can try to understand all the ways in which this information is used for targeted advertising. The collection of this data is not new. It is just that now you can see it.

You can see it because Apple is enforcing a rule in the App Store that says all apps must make it clear to users the data points that they are collecting. Facebook, which owns WhatsApp is not exactly very happy about the transparency that it brings and is fighting a public battle with Apple, but let’s not get into that. Let’s see what all info WhatsApp is collecting from iPhone and presumably Android users.

According to Apple App Store, WhatsApp Collects:

Identifiers: This is the device ID, or basically the digital signature of your phone on which you have installed WhatsApp. This is unique for every phone. We don’t know how exactly WhatsApp uses it, but potentially it can be used to figure out that the same user has WhatsApp installed as well as other Facebook apps, like Facebook and Messenger. Basically, this one ID probably binds all the data Facebook has of you and makes it useful for user tracking and targeted advertising.

Usage data: We are not sure which data is part of it, but Facebook says that this data is used for advertising. It could be something like for how long you use WhatsApp, or at what time, and for what purposes, which is whether to make calls or chats, etc. It could be something like, at “8 am, the user opened WhatsApp and sent 7 messages.” WhatsApp doesn’t know what messages you sent, but it does know that 7 messages were sent at 8 am.

Purchases: This is probably data related to any purchase you have made using WhatsApp. Recently, WhatsApp rolled out a digital mart feature to help people buy stuff through the app.

Location: Where you are located, in which city and in which colony. But not which house because WhatsApp collects “coarse” location data and not fine.

Contact info: Of course, your phone number.

User Content: WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted, which WhatsApp cannot access for advertising or even analytics purposes. So, what is this? WhatsApp says it is other user content. We are assuming this is probably the wallpapers etc that you use in WhatsApp. But we are not sure.

Diagnostics: Probably the data WhatsApp collects when the app crashes, network conditions, etc.

Contacts: Yes, WhatsApp has access to all your contacts. This is how WhatsApp functions.

Financial Info: WhatsApp collects details of payment information, such as when you are using WhatsApp Pay.

All of this data once collected is then used by WhatsApp and Facebook in various ways, including for targeted advertising as well as to ensure all the features and functionality that offers works well. Now, this is a standard industry practice so it is not like WhatsApp is the only app doing something like this, which is collecting all this private data. And of course, when you install WhatsApp and agree to terms and conditions, you give WhatsApp and Facebook permission to collect this data. It is just that now, the process is a little more transparent.

WhatsApp vs Signal: data collection

But about other chat apps? Most of them are similar to WhatsApp but some are different. The Signal app, which has also seen praise from NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden, seems to be very different from WhatsApp if the privacy labels at the App Store are any indication.

While WhatsApp does collect a lot of information about its users, the Signal Messaging app does not collect any such sensitive information about its users.

Apple revealed in its privacy section the slew of information WhatsApp collects from information but no such data was displayed about Signal. The App Privacy label of Signal showed that the data which the app collects from the user is not linked to them. This means that the data types including location data or browsing history are not linked to the user in any way that can be identified. The only data that Signal seems to collect from its user is the Contact Info. Signal uses the open-source Signal Protocol to encrypt all forms of communication on the app. While WhatsApp only encrypts the messages and calls, Signal encrypts the metadata too.