55 Total
7 High severity
36 Medium severity
12 Low severity

Key Facts

What can any user capture and send to WhatsApp, others, or post on another platform?
WhatsApp acknowledges that any user can capture screenshots or recordings of chats, messages, or calls and send them to WhatsApp, others, or post them on another platform.
When will WhatsApp share user information with successor entities or new owners?
WhatsApp will share user information with successor entities or new owners in connection with a merger, acquisition, restructuring, bankruptcy, or sale of all or some of its assets.
What does WhatsApp offer for its Services?
WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption for its Services, which is designed to protect messages from being read by WhatsApp or third parties.
What is end-to-end encryption designed to protect?
WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption for its Services, which is designed to protect messages from being read by WhatsApp or third parties.
What do WhatsApp's Meta Company Partners use information shared with them for?
WhatsApp's Meta Company Partners use information shared with them to show users relevant offers and ads across Meta Company Products.
What must a user provide to create a WhatsApp account?
WhatsApp requires a user to provide their mobile phone number and basic information, including a profile name, to create a WhatsApp account.
What basic information must a user provide to create a WhatsApp account?
WhatsApp requires a user to provide their mobile phone number and basic information, including a profile name, to create a WhatsApp account.
What information may WhatsApp users and businesses reshare with others on and off WhatsApp's Services?
WhatsApp permits users, including businesses, with whom you communicate to store or reshare your information, including your phone number or messages, with others on and off WhatsApp's Services.
When does WhatsApp access, preserve, and share user information?
WhatsApp accesses, preserves, and shares user information when it has a good-faith belief that doing so is necessary to respond pursuant to applicable law or regulations, legal process, or government requests.
Does WhatsApp store a user's information for a longer period if the user deletes the app from their device without using the in-app delete my account feature?
WhatsApp stores a user's information for a longer period if the user deletes the app from their device without using the in-app delete my account feature.
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Summary

WhatsApp's Privacy Policy explains what data WhatsApp collects about you, how it is used, and who it is shared with. Your messages are protected by end-to-end encryption and deleted from WhatsApp's servers once delivered, but information about you—including your phone number—can be stored and reshared by anyone you communicate with, and is shared with Meta Companies for advertising. To fully delete your data, you must use the in-app account deletion feature rather than simply uninstalling the app.

Analysis

WhatsApp's Privacy Policy establishes the conditions under which WhatsApp collects, uses, retains, and shares user information in connection with its Services. WhatsApp requires a mobile phone number and profile name for account creation, and automatically collects device and connection data upon installation, access, or use. The policy provides end-to-end encryption designed to prevent WhatsApp and third parties from reading message content, while delivered messages are deleted from WhatsApp's servers and undelivered messages are retained in encrypted form for up to 30 days. User information is shared with Meta Company Partners for targeted advertising across Meta products, with successor entities in corporate transactions, and with government or law enforcement based on WhatsApp's good-faith belief of legal necessity. The policy explicitly acknowledges that third parties a user communicates with—including businesses and their service providers—may store or reshare user information, including phone numbers and message content, outside WhatsApp's control.

What this means for you

As an individual user, your message content is protected by end-to-end encryption and WhatsApp deletes delivered messages from its servers, but your phone number, profile information, and device data are collected and shared with Meta Companies, used for targeted advertising across Meta products, and may be disclosed to governments based on WhatsApp's own good-faith assessment. Any person or business you message can store and reshare your phone number or message content with others on or off WhatsApp, and businesses may grant their third-party service providers—potentially including Meta—access to those communications. If you want to stop WhatsApp from retaining your information, you should use the in-app 'delete my account' feature rather than simply uninstalling the app.

Institutional Analysis
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Which mapped governance frameworks each document engages, tied to the specific provisions that engage them.

27 important changes detected

38 versions captured · Last updated: July 2026

What changed WhatsApp's privacy policy was updated on July 8, 2026, with 59 sentences added and 65 sentences modified, expanding from 182 sentences total. The updated policy now includes explicit language about information collection practices, privacy protection measures, WhatsApp's status as a Meta Company, and cross-company information sharing. The changes clarify operational procedures and governance structure without altering the core data practices previously disclosed.
Why this matters The updated privacy policy expands written explanations of how WhatsApp collects, processes, and protects information, and clarifies that WhatsApp operates as part of the Meta Companies with information sharing across family entities. The revised language does not assert new data collection practices or change user rights; it provides more detailed disclosure of existing procedures. You can review the full policy at any time to understand how your data is handled.
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What changed WhatsApp's privacy policy website underwent technical updates on July 7, 2026, including changes to stylesheet and script resource URLs. The detected changes involve modifications to three linked resource files (two CSS stylesheets and one JavaScript file) with updated hash identifiers and file paths. These appear to be routine technical updates to support files that deliver the policy document itself, with no apparent changes to the substantive privacy terms or user-facing policy language.
Why this matters This change involves technical updates to the stylesheets and scripts that deliver WhatsApp's privacy policy webpage. No substantive changes to privacy terms, data practices, user rights, or disclosed data handling have been detected. The underlying privacy commitments and practices described in the policy remain as previously stated.
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July 6, 2026 low

WhatsApp's privacy policy update on July 6, 2026 modified three sentences in the document. The specific substantive changes to the policy language were not detailed in the detection report, which …

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July 3, 2026 low

WhatsApp's privacy policy was updated on July 3, 2026 with three sentences modified in the introductory section. The change does not appear to alter substantive data practices or user rights; …

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June 25, 2026 low

WhatsApp's privacy policy was updated on June 25, 2026. The update modified 3 sentences in the document. The specific operational changes in the modified sentences are not disclosed in the …

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June 24, 2026 low

WhatsApp's privacy policy website was updated on June 24, 2026, with three sentences modified. The changes detected in the HTML markup involve updates to resource URLs, tokens, and stylesheets used …

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June 22, 2026 medium

WhatsApp updated its Privacy Policy on June 22, 2026, making two substantive changes. First, the policy removed language stating 'We have no intention to introduce them, but you may see …

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June 21, 2026 low

WhatsApp added a new section titled 'Privacy Rights for United States Residents' that directs users to a separate United States Regional Privacy Notice for information about consumer privacy rights available …

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June 21, 2026 low

The diff context provided contains primarily HTML markup and JavaScript code from WhatsApp's website infrastructure, not substantive policy language changes. The before/after snippets show nearly identical website code with minor …

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June 19, 2026 low

WhatsApp's privacy policy was updated on June 19, 2026. The change affected three sentences within the document's HTML structure, including modifications to authentication tokens and technical identifiers used in the …

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June 18, 2026 low

The detected change in WhatsApp's Privacy Policy on June 18, 2026 involves modifications to 3 sentences within the document's 123-sentence structure. The provided diff context shows updates to technical tokens, …

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June 18, 2026 low

WhatsApp's privacy policy document was updated on June 18, 2026 with technical modifications to three sentences in the policy text. The changes involve updates to authentication tokens, cross-origin resource sharing …

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June 16, 2026 low

WhatsApp's Privacy Policy on June 16, 2026 contains changes across 3 sentences within its structure, though the specific content modifications are not clearly evident from the provided HTML diff. The …

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June 14, 2026 low

WhatsApp's privacy policy document underwent technical updates on June 14, 2026, including modifications to three sentences within the 123-sentence policy. The detected changes involved updates to code tokens and resource …

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June 13, 2026 low

The detected change involves modifications to three sentences within WhatsApp's Privacy Policy document, updated on June 13, 2026. The provided diff context shows HTML structural changes and metadata updates (including …

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June 12, 2026 low

The WhatsApp Privacy Policy was updated on June 12, 2026, but the provided change summary contains only HTML metadata and header/footer markup changes with no substantive privacy policy language modifications …

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June 12, 2026 low

WhatsApp updated its privacy policy on June 12, 2026, with modifications to 3 sentences within the document. The provided diff context shows changes to metadata tokens and HTML structure elements, …

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June 11, 2026 low

WhatsApp updated the contact form URL in its Privacy Policy from a form identifier ending in '696255948470523' to one ending in '915483389072145', a routine technical update to the support contact …

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June 11, 2026 low

WhatsApp added two new sections to its privacy policy on June 11, 2026. The first establishes a new 'Privacy Rights for United States Residents' section directing users to a separate …

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June 10, 2026 low

WhatsApp updated five sentences in its privacy policy on June 10, 2026. The change removed conditional language stating 'We have no intention to introduce [ads] in Status and Channels' and …

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June 9, 2026 low

WhatsApp's Privacy Policy was updated on June 9, 2026, but the provided diff shows only HTML metadata and JavaScript configuration changes, not substantive policy content. The actual text modifications to …

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June 8, 2026 low

WhatsApp's privacy policy document underwent minor technical updates on June 8, 2026, with three sentences modified across the HTML-formatted policy page. The changes appear to involve updates to resource file …

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June 6, 2026 low

The detected change consists of three sentence-level modifications in WhatsApp's Privacy Policy captured on June 6, 2026. The diff context shows modifications to HTML metadata tokens and script parameters, as …

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June 6, 2026 low

WhatsApp updated its privacy policy on June 6, 2026 by modifying five sentences. The changes included adding a new section titled 'Privacy Rights for United States Residents' that directs users …

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June 5, 2026 medium

WhatsApp removed language stating it has no intention to introduce ads in Status and Channels, replacing it with a more conditional statement that reserves the right to introduce ads in …

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June 5, 2026 low

WhatsApp's privacy policy was updated on June 5, 2026, with three sentences modified in the document. The updated language maintains the core structure of the policy while updating HTML metadata …

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June 4, 2026 low

WhatsApp's privacy policy was updated on June 4, 2026 to add a new section titled 'Privacy Rights for United States Residents' directing users to a separate California-specific privacy notice for …

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Featured, High severity
Featured, Medium severity

Complete Provision Index

Every distinct legal provision identified in this document. Featured provisions appear above with analysis.

55 provisions
12 featured
14 clause types
7 high severity
Enforcement Actions 1
General Contract Terms 1
Policy Changes 1
Restricted or Prohibited Content/Industries 1
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Mapped Governance Frameworks

CCPA/CPRA
California, USA
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Connecticut Data Privacy Act Amendments
US-CT
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CAN-SPAM
United States Federal
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DMA
European Union
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FTC Act Section 5
United States Federal
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GDPR
European Union
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Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act
US-IN
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Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act
US-KY
View official text ↗
UK GDPR
United Kingdom
View official text ↗
Universal Opt-Out Mechanism Expansion 2026
US
View official text ↗
VPPA
United States Federal
View official text ↗
Archival ProvenanceSource & Archival Record
Last Captured July 25, 2026 00:36 UTC
Capture Method Automated scheduled archival capture
Document ID CA-D-000176
Version ID CA-V-005256
SHA-256 685fa38f70cf0e2823af1ed67f803f2265cd5afe4e44c226a9de2128678fbe62
✓ Snapshot stored ✓ Text extracted ✓ Change verified ✓ Hash verified

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