By Sizwe Gwala
Johannesburg – Mathematician Clive Humby was on the money when postulating that: “The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data.”
He likened data to oil in that countries that generate, process and export oil have built and sustained immeasurable wealth, thereby dominating the global economy over years.
Similarly, modern-day businesses, which have grown immensely, are largely data-driven with data being their fundamental asset when crafting business strategies, in decision-making and ultimately in the generation of revenue.
However, successfully deriving value from data is dependent on businesses possessing high-quality data, fit for business purpose, readily available and integrated to all related products and services.
Although most users are appalled and disgusted with WhatsApp’s recent stance, its move comes as no surprise to the data community. January 6 2021 saw an in-app message disseminated to all WhatsApp users containing a set of updates to its terms of service and privacy policy.
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Users had until February 8 to accept in order to continue using the app, and those refusing to accept will be barred from using the app going forward. Recent updates comprise of inter-alia; a change in the manner in which the platform will process user data.
There will also be changes in how businesses use Facebook-hosted services for the storage and management of their WhatsApp chats.
Moreover, there will be enhanced data sharing and integration with Facebook for improved customer service offerings.
Data sharing is a common business practice and WhatsApp is merely performing an act of goodwill as required by data privacy laws by notifying its users of their policy changes. The elephant in the room is that WhatsApp and its parent company, Facebook are free services.
By merely signing up on these apps, users voluntarily consent to their data being gathered and stored by the app. Signal and Telegram emerging as the favourites.
However, it remains pertinent that those affected take some time and comprehend what these changes actually mean prior to taking any decision.
User information to be shared with Facebook includes inter-alia; transaction data, service-related information and user-interaction information.
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Whether the decision is to remain loyal or to jump ship, users should be cognizant that mobile app businesses are still obliged to act honestly and ethically in their handling of customer data and as such adhere to parameters set out in data privacy regulations. Whatsapp has since rescinded the decision for now.
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