Privacy watchers flag WhatsApp's data-sharing rule change

MANILA, Philippines -- Philippines' data privacy regulators on Thursday called out WhatsApp for the company's planned changes to its privacy policy that would allow the sharing of users' data with its parent firm Facebook, joining their counterparts abroad in flagging the changes. In a statement, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) said the "broad language" that the popular messaging app used in its new privacy terms "has stirred confusion and concern." Specifically, privacy checkers were worried about how the updated terms will allow additional sharing of information between WhatsApp and other "third-party" applications such as Instagram and Facebook Messenger. WhatsApp said shareable information include contacts and profile data, but not messages which remain encrypted. The NPC added that WhatsApp's source code is "not viewable by concerned experts who may want to validate the sec...