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WhatsApp has stated that in the UK and EU the update does not share further data with Facebook – because of strict privacy regulation, known as the general update to data protection regulation (GDPR). WhatsApp does share some data with Facebook, including phone numbers and profile name, but this has been happening for years. The more data they profile, the more they put people in vulnerable positions at risk The BBC reported that Signal was downloaded 246,000 times worldwide in the week before WhatsApp announced the change on 4 January, and 8.8m times the week after.
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The bungled communication attempts have raised awareness that WhatsApp does collect a lot of data, and some of this could be shared with Facebook.
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