TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has publicly warned Facebook and WhatsApp to uphold their users' privacy following the announcement of their merge.
"Hundreds of millions of users have entrusted their personal information to WhatsApp. The FTC staff will continue to monitor the companies' practices to ensure that Facebook and WhatsApp honor the promises they have made to those users," said FTC regulators as quoted by Forbes yesterday.
The warning came after growing fears among users regarding changes in privacy system and ads placement by Facebook to WhatsApp users. Last month, WhatsApp founder Jan Koum also promised to keep upholding his company’s commitment in guarding the privacy of its more than 480 million active users.
"Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA, and we built WhatsApp around the goal of knowing as little about you as possible," Koum said.
After the deal has been announced last February, Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would not change WhatsApp. "We are absolutely not going to change plans around WhatsApp and the way it uses user's data," said Zuckerberg, adding that WhatsApp is going to operate completely autonomously.
RINDU P HESTYA | FORBES