Facebook’s decision to merge Facebook with Instagram and WhatsApp has “implications for privacy,” according to a report.
Technology Review reported on Friday that the merge will “have significant implications for privacy.”
“One of these is that WhatsApp currently requires only a telephone number to register, whereas Facebook Messenger demands people’s real identities. It’s unclear whether WhatsApp will ultimately require them too,” Technology Review explained. “Facebook’s plan also raises issues about how data will be shared across the platforms, and with third parties.”
“Facebook says it wants to make it easier for people to communicate across its ‘ecosystem’ of apps. But the real driver here is a commercial one,” Technology Review continued, adding, “By making it easier to swap messages, Facebook can mine even more data to target ads with, and come up with more money-spinning services.”
The merger was announced last week, with the BBC reporting that all three platforms “will be linked so messages can travel between the different services.”
The BBC also reported that it is “believed to be a personal project of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.”
2018 was a tough year for Facebook, which was involved in a number of highly publicized security and privacy scandals.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington, or like his page at Facebook.