WhatsApp is Sharing Your Payment Details With Facebook

The popular messaging app started accepting payments via UPI in the country from early 2018.

WhatsApp Payment feature is now available to a few users in India. 

(Photo: The Quint)

WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, and that’s going to have a direct impact on how its Payment feature works in India.

The social messaging app has discreetly confirmed that all your payment information, account number, UPI PIN will be shared with third-party service providers and Facebook as well. All this information has been published on WhatsApp Legal Info page on its website.

The portal also details the use of payment feature (activated by ICICI) in India, and how by agreeing to its privacy policies, users are leaving themselves vulnerable to mishaps. After all, Facebook has been caught napping while entities like Cambridge Analytica have prospered under its nose, accessing data of over 87 million users for its sake.

WhatsApp Payment was introduced few months back, heavily integrating itself into the country’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI), which has been deployed by Google (for Tez) and Uber as well.

WhatsApp claims that even though all confidential banking details are received, none of them can be accessed as it’s in an encrypted form.

When you register to use Payments, you provide your bank’s name, partial debit card number, and debit card expiration date. You will also be asked to provide your ATM PIN or UPI PIN, or to set up an UPI PIN for payment transactions if you do not already have one. We receive your debit card details and ATM PIN or UPI PIN securely, and we do not retain this information.

<a href="https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/#payments-in-privacy-policy">WhatsApp Legal Info</a>

But the most staggering piece of detail is that payment details will also be shared with Facebook.

To send payment instructions to PSPs, maintain your transaction history, provide customer support, and keep our services safe and secure, including to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, safety, security, abuse, or other misconduct, we share information we collect under this Payments Privacy Policy with third-party service providers including Facebook. To provide Payments to you, we share information with third-party services including PSPs, such as your mobile phone number, registration information, device identifiers, VPAs, the sender’s UPI PIN, and payment amount. &nbsp;

<a href="https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/#payments-in-privacy-policy">WhatsApp Legal Info</a>

WhatsApp Payment was apparently allowed to launch itself in a beta model, which didn’t go well with fellow competing payments players like Paytm. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO, Paytm made a public outburst against the unfair practices that UPI has allowed WhatsApp to function around.

This development only serves to bring further caution over the ongoing battle, and it remains to be seen if WhatsApp will reach out to the country with an explanation on the matter.

If you’ve already started using WhatsApp payment and hit Agree to its privacy policy, then good luck.