So you can request your own data

Anyone who uses WhatsApp agrees that the company can access user data. Anyone who wants to know what they are can request data. We show what the effect is.

Share In the future the parent company wants to share more user data with Facebook. Users must comply with the new data protection rules by February 8 – otherwise they can Processor Do not use anymore. That’s the important news for the last few days.

However, nothing should change for EU citizens: they are subject to a separate regulation based on local data protection laws. But WhatsApp also collects so much data about its users. You can request what the messenger knows about you at any time. We show how this works and what information WhatsApp collects.

WhatsApp collects this data

In what is called the GDPR report, WhatsApp lists the user information that it stores on its server. These include, for example Cell phones, WhatsApp version used, device type and account status message. The connection status of the user is also listed in the report.

Messenger also stores important information about its users, such as cell phone numbers and the phone numbers of all WhatsApp contacts. The report does not include the number of non-WhatsApp contacts. The user can find all the groups they are currently a member of here. Groups left by users can no longer be found in the WhatsApp report.

More info: Whether the user has accepted the terms from 2016 and 2018, when, what data protection systems are enabled, and which numbers the user has blocked.

How To Request Your WhatsApp Report

You can request the WhatsApp report in the settings and view it as soon as you receive the receipt. It works like this:

1. Open WhatsApp, click on the three dots in the top right corner and select “In the drop-down menu”Settings“
2. Now “Account“Then”Request account information“
3. WhatsApp may take a few days to provide information. You will receive a message and see the report for a period of time “Request account information“Export.
4. When exporting, it is a good idea to select the email service on your mobile phone and send the report to your own mailbox.
5. The files for the report are in one ZIP folder Saved. To
6. In Windows 10, you can usually open zip folders without additional programs. If this is not the case then maybe you need to use a free tool like “7-Zip”
7. The ZIP folder contains two files that you can unzip: an HTML file and a JSON file. Double-clicking on the HTML file will open your default browser. All the information that WhatsApp collects about you can be found here. JSON contains the same information. You can open it with a Windows editor, for example.

WhatsApp competitors are becoming popular

So far, Ambassador’s competitors have benefited from the new WhatsApp guidelines. So the Messenger announced Signal Increase in users in Germany too – Germans as EU citizens will not be affected by the new guidelines according to WhatsApp.

One reason for the urgency of users may also be the Tesla boss Elon Musk Advised to switch to the signal. WhatsApp’s revised data protection guideline states that any data from WhatsApp can reach Facebook: this includes mobile phone number, status information or transaction data, usage and registration information, device and connection data or location.