WhatsApp has decided to share more user data with other Facebook companies to provide a more coherent experience to users across its services.
It will share account registration information, phone numbers, transaction data, service-related information, interactions on the platform, mobile device information, IP address, and other data collected based on users’ consent, a new update says.
This data sharing policy with Facebook and its other services doesn’t apply to EU states. The update is expected to go into effect next month.
The “key updates” concern how it processes user data, “how businesses can use Facebook hosted services to store and manage their WhatsApp chats,” and “how we partner with Facebook to offer integrations across the Facebook Company Products.”
In a notification quoted by a tech website, Whastapp said it will delete the accounts after “120 days of inactivity .i.e. not connected to the app.”
“This effectively means that, while the profiles will remain inactive, WhatsApp will eventually end up deleting the accounts after 120 days of inactivity (i.e. not connected to the app) as part of its efforts to “maintain security, limit data retention, and protect the privacy of our users.”
Facebook Company Products refers to the flagship Facebook app, Messenger, and Instagram, Boomerang among others.
A day after various social media platforms, including Twitter, temporarily suspended US President Donald Trump’s accounts, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Trump’s account has been banned indefinitely.
BREAKING: Zuckerberg says Facebook and Instagram are blocking President Trump from using their services indefinitely. pic.twitter.com/JHxZvmjqiu
“The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Zuckerberg said in a statement posted on Facebook. “His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world.”
“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”
On Wednesday, Twitter suspended Trump’s account. In a series of tweets, Twitter Safety tweeted:
As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy.
This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked
Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.
This happened in the wake of the siege of Capitol Hill by pro-Trump mob. Trump released a video on Wednesday night in which he continued to claim he won the election and told supporters who stormed the Capitol: “We love you.” According to the BBC, Snapchat also stopped Trump from creating new posts, but did not say if or when it would end the ban. YouTube also removed the video.
While his social media accounts remain suspended, Trump released a statement through White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino. It said:
“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th. I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!”
Statement by President Donald J. Trump on the Electoral Certification:
“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th. I have always said we would continue our…
WhatsApp began testing its payment services in India with one million users in 2018, and now they are rapidly expanding the feature to capture the world’s second-largest economy.
The Facebook-owned company said on Friday that it is rolling out payments in ten regional languages in the latest stable version of WhatsApp on Android and iOS.
Starting today, people across India will be able to send money through WhatsApp This secure payments experience makes transferring money just as easy as sending a message. pic.twitter.com/bM1hMEB7sb
The company made the announcement when National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the body that runs the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) system, approved to roll out the feature in the Indian market.
Like Google, Samsung and several other firms, WhatsApp has built its payments service in collaboration with large banks in India.
NPCI said WhatsApp, which has accumulated over 400 million users in India, can expand payments to its users in a “graded-manner”, and to start with, it can only roll out the payments service to 20 million users and has to work with multiple banking partners.
WhatsApp said that they are already working with leading banks like ICICI, HDFC, Axis, Jio Payment, and the State Bank of India.
Google and Walmart are currently dominating the mobile payments market in India; together they have almost 80% of the UPI market share.
UPI’s popularity has diminished the relevance of several firms in India, including SoftBank and Alibaba-backed Paytm that spent years building mobile wallets. Unlike UPI apps, mobile wallets are not interoperable with other mobile wallets and levy a small fee to consumers.
“With UPI, India has created something truly special and is opening up a world of opportunities for micro and small businesses that are the backbone of the Indian economy. India is the first country to do anything like this. I’m glad we were able to support this effort and work together to help achieve a more digital India. I want to thank all our partners who’ve made this possible. When people can access financial tools, they’re more empowered to support themselves and others or start a business. Long term, we need more innovation that gives people control over their money, and making payments easier is a small step that can help,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Facebook, in a video posted on Friday.
Facebook itself has made a big push in e-commerce in the past year. And if WhatsApp gains traction with payments, it could open more avenues for its parent firm.
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s official page on Facebook has crossed 10 million followers.
With that, Imran Khan has become the first and only Pakistani politician to reach 10 million followers on Facebook.
Moreover, Imran Khan has also become the 4th most followed politician in the world on Facebook.
Former US President, Barrack Obama, is the most followed politician worldwide on Facebook with 56 million followers.
Barrack Obama is followed by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, with 45.8 million followers who is followed by the incumbent US President, Donald Trump, with 30 million followers.
Meanwhile, PM Imran Khan, with 12.7 million followers, remains the most followed Pakistani politician on Twitter as well.
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s official page on Facebook has crossed 10 million followers.
With that, Imran Khan has become the first and only Pakistani politician to reach 10 million followers on Facebook.
Moreover, Imran Khan has also become the 4th most followed politician in the world on Facebook.
Former US President, Barrack Obama, is the most followed politician worldwide on Facebook with 56 million followers.
Barrack Obama is followed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has 45.8 million followers. The world leader on the third spot is US President Donald Trump with 30 million followers.
Meanwhile, PM Imran Khan, with 12.7 million followers, remains the most followed Pakistani politician on Twitter as well.
Facebook is planning on launching its own free website builder and paid web hosting service.
The news was officially announced in a blog post by the company. According to Facebook, this new service will be beneficial for all the startups and medium-sized firms, who are looking for a cost-friendly and reliable services.
They are also looking forward to provide a new option for businesses to manage their WhatsApp messages via the hosting services that will be provided by Facebook. This option will make it easier for all the small and medium-sized business to get started. They can now sell their products, manage almost everything and respond to the messages they receive. They will easily communicate with their employees and customers.
Apart from making the hosting service available in a few months, it also plans on introducing ways purchase directly through WhatsApp chats. The compatibility with the existing e-commerce will be monitored, this will make things easier for retailers.
WhatsApp has decided to charge its business account users for some of the services it provides to help it “build a business of its own”.
According to a statement issued by the WhatsApp, it will charge “business customers for some of the services we offer, which will help WhatsApp continue building a business of our own while we provide and expand free end-to-end encrypted text, video and voice calling for more than two billion people”.
“The global pandemic has made clear that businesses need fast and efficient ways to service their customers and make sales,” the messaging platform said in a press release. “Our research shows people prefer to message a business to get help and they’re more likely to make a purchase when they can do so.”
“We’ve provided the WhatsApp Business app and WhatsApp Business API to help businesses of all sizes manage their chats. We’ve listened to feedback on what’s worked and believe WhatsApp can help make messaging the best way for consumers and businesses to connect,” read the statement.
“The global pandemic has made clear that businesses need fast and efficient ways to service their customers and make sales. WhatsApp has become a simple and convenient resource in this time. More than 175 million people every day message a WhatsApp Business account. Our research shows people prefer to message a business to get help and they’re more likely to make a purchase when they can do so.”
Agha Ali Raza and Ihsan Ayyub Qazi from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) wins Facebook’s Foundation Integrity Research that solves the problem of misinformation on Facebook.
In February, Facebook asked academic institutions and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) from all over the world to send proposals.
“Our goal is to support independent research that will contribute to the understanding of the phenomena and, in the long term, help us improve our policies, interventions, and tooling,” said Alex Leavitt, Senior Researcher at Facebook.
Raza and Qazi’s research tackles the challenges by measuring the role of prior beliefs and analytical reasoning, and how this impacts the beliefs of internet users.
Raza and Qazi also designed an educational intervention that uses influential public figures to spread awareness about misinformation on the platform.
“We are thrilled to have our research been awarded the grant by Facebook which would serve as a stepping stone for us to take our project forward.
Through our research, we aim to understand how non-textual misinformation (e.g. deepfakes) is perceived by internet users with low digital literacy and the role of pre-conceived notions, and analytical reasoning in shaping the beliefs of such users.
We are hopeful that by the completion of this project, we will be able to make a substantial contribution towards combating the circulation of false and unverified information on the internet,” stated the winning duo.
The social media giant received around 1,000 proposals out of which 25 awardees have been finalised for Facebook’s research and policy teams.
The winners’ will be investigating issues across 42 countries including Canada, Denmark, Pakistan, Turkey, and the UK.
An Indian man hailing from Maharashtra, Siddiqui Mohammad Zishan, travelled nearly 1200 kilometres to meet a girl from Shah Faisal town in Karachi, Pakistan. According to details, Zishan, who is an engineering student, befriended the girl on Facebook and had been communicating with her over social media including Facebook and Whatsapp. Zishan wanted to cross the border and come to Pakistan using Google Maps.
However, the 20-year-old’s plans were cut short when the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) caught him in Gujarat’s Rann of Kutch while he was trying to cross over to the other side of the border on foot. The young man revealed that he had travelled nearly 1200-odd kilometres to meet his friend.
According to reports, he was found by BSF personnel in a dehydrated condition and had fainted. An ATM card and other documents like Aadhaar card helped security officials identify him.
During the search operation, the BSF also found a bike that the youth had abandoned when he reached close to the border. He had used the bike to travel from his hometown in Maharashtra. The young man was caught about 1.5 kilometres away from the Indo-Pakistan international border based on information shared by the Crime Branch of Maharashtra Police. The police added that Zishan had started walking towards Pakistan after his motorcycle got stuck in the sand.
The Maharashtra Police had informed the Gujarat Police about a missing complaint that had been filed by the parents of the man. The Gujarat Police with the help of the Border Security Force personnel traced the young man by tracking his mobile phone.
The BSF has handed over the young man to the police for further investigation and so that his story can be verified.
Facebook helped in capturing two robbers, who entered a house in Lahore after a girl posted a status on Facebook that two robbers have entered her house.
As per reports, two robbers entered a house in Faisal Town, Lahore. A woman named Saba, who was in the upper portion of the house, posted a status on Facebook that two dacoits have entered her house after observing resistance from the family members.
Reading the post, friends and the other family members of Saba, instantly called police helpline 15, who reached the house in no time and arrested the robbers after negotiations of half an hour.
Saba said after the robbers broke into the house, she immediately shared a status on Facebook after locking her room in the upper portion of the building.
Facebook employees have walked away from their work-from-home desks and taken to Twitter to accuse Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg of not taking a stand against United States (US) President Donald Trump’s hateful posts on social media.
As per the details, Reuters observed dozens of tweets against Mark in what was a rare case of the social media giant’s staff publicly standing against its CEO.
Thousands of people, including seven engineers of teams that maintain the react code library critical for Facebook’s apps, were among those who tweeted.
“Mark is wrong and I will endeavour in the loudest possible way to change his mind,” said Ryan Freitas, director of product design for Facebook’s newsfeed. He added that he mobilised more than 50 like-minded people to lobby for internal change.
Katie Zhu, a product manager at Instagram, tweeted a screenshot showing she had entered “#BLACKLIVESMATTER” to describe her request for time off as part of the walkout.
Facebook Inc will allow its employees to take part in the protest and will not draw down their vacation days, said spokesperson Andy Stone.
Talkspace CEO Oren Frank tweeted he would “not support a platform that incites violence, racism, and lies”. The online therapy company also announced that it had ended partnership discussions with Facebook.
It is worth mentioning here that Facebook CEO landed in hot water when he told Fox News that private social media platforms “shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online”.
President Trump retweeted the interview that had come after Twitter flagged his tweet about mail-in ballots as misleading.
It wasn’t later that Twitter responded to another Trump tweet pertaining to countrywide riots, for glorifying violence. Twitter covered up the tweet with a message warning it “violated Twitter rules about glorifying violence”.
The viewers had to click on the message to see the underlying tweet.
….These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!
Trump posted the same message on Facebook, but Mark decided to let it stand unchallenged. “I have been struggling with how to respond to the president’s tweets and post all day,” he wrote in a post Friday.
“Personally, I have a visceral negative reaction to this kind of divisive and inflammatory rhetoric,” he said, adding that the company’s position, however, was that it should enable as much expression as possible unless it would cause an imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelt out in clear policies.
“I don’t know what to do, but I know doing nothing is not acceptable,” Jason Stirman, a member of Facebook’s research and development team, wrote on Twitter in response to Mark.
I don’t know what to do, but I know doing nothing is not acceptable. I’m a FB employee that completely disagrees with Mark’s decision to do nothing about Trump’s recent posts, which clearly incite violence. I’m not alone inside of FB. There isn’t a neutral position on racism.
