The new privacy policy of WhatsApp has been a cause of concern for many people across the world. The concern is justified as the app has become an integral part of our lives and any change in its policy can have far reaching consequences.
The change in policy will concern MFDs too as many MFDs use WhatsApp to share files and information with their clients.
With WhatsApp starting to share a lot more data with its parent company Facebook, should MFDs continue to send and receive clients’ data through the app?
Before answering the question, let's take a look at WhatsApp’s new privacy policy.
The gist of the new policy
WhatsApp says the changes in privacy policy will help it serve businesses better.
"We’re giving businesses the option to use secure hosting services from Facebook to manage WhatsApp chats with their customers, answer questions, and send helpful information like purchase receipts," the company had said in a blogpost.
This means users’ conversation with business accounts will not be as secure as it used to be. The new policy has opened the path for greater amount of data sharing between WhatsApp and Facebook.
"Whether you communicate with a business by phone, email, or WhatsApp, it can see what you’re saying and may use that information for its own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook,” the company had said.
How does it affects users?
The new policy only affects your conversations with businesses. Your personal chats will remain encrypted like before. This means no company or individual including WhatsApp, can see your chats with friends and family.
Does it means WhatsApp does not store or share data of users who do not interact with business accounts?
No. WhatsApp has been storing and sharing your data for years. But this data does not includes your conversations and files.
The new policy has clarified that WhatsApp shares users’ log in information, device locations, unique identifiers relevant to Facebook, etc. with the parent company and its entities.
This sharing of information was part of previous policy also.
What happens if I do not accept the new policy?
WhatsApp has said people will start losing account functionality if they persistently refuse to accept the new terms.
As per the information released by the company, such users will not be able to access their chat list. They will only be able to answer incoming voice and video calls and respond to messages from the notification panel.
Moreover, users will be hit by persistent pop-up reminders to accept the new policy.
How does it impact conversations between MFDs, clients?
The new policy shouldn't have any impact at least for those MFDs and clients who use private WhatsApp accounts to share investment related files and information.
However, WhatsApp is anyway not the right app for sharing confidential information and files. Messaging apps are not meant for such exchange of information.
It's true that no app or internet service is completely safe but there are steps one can take to minimise risks.
Sharing password protected PDF files through email remains one of the best formal ways to share documents. Banks and fund houses have long been using the method to send account statements to investors.
