Its surprising to actually know that you can actually find out everything WhatsApp knows about you. Talk about transparency.
The Cambridge Analytical and Facebook Saga are still dragging on and while some people are closing down most of their social media accounts/profiles due to the breach of both data and trust. Some others are asking an important question; What do these sites/services/platforms even know about us? And how do they use our data/information we put out there? Well, we’ve been helping you connect the dots so you’ll be informed before thinking of the next step to take; to delete or not to.
We’ve written about how you can find out everything Google knows About you and What Apple knows about you as an apple product user. Now we will be focusing on an important one being WhatsApp which if you didn’t know is currently owned by Facebook. Thanks to the new GDPR(General Data Protection Regulation) Law that makes it a must for these sites to make available everything they have on us on demand.
They also have to state what they intend to do with the data or how the data is being used in their privacy section. So if you would like to know that, then visit any site and look for the “Privacy” Section and the information should be there but I’m starting to digress a little so let’s get right back to it.
How To Find Out Everything WhatsApp Knows About You
- Launch WhatsApp.
Click on the Three Dots at top right hand side of the screen and Select Settings.
Click On Account.
Select Request Account Info.
Tap Request Report.
Now you’ve requested for your account information. All you have to do now is wait. WhatsApp also states on the app that you should allow up to 3 days for them to compile the data. However, they usually send it within a couple of hours if your data isn’t much.
Note – After you’ve requested for your account information, some actions should not be carried on your account as it would void/stop/cancel the requested information. Actions such as Changing number, Deleting your account or re-registering your account.
Once the information is available for you to download, you will get a notification from WhatsApp telling you that “Your account info report is ready to download”. You should also know that the information will only be available for download for only a couple of weeks at most before getting deleted from WhatsApp’s servers.
- Launch WhatsApp, Click on the Three Dots at the top right corner of the screen and select Settings.
Tap On Account.
Click on Request account info.
Click On Download Report.
A Zip File will be downloaded which includes an HTML File when unzipped. The file will not open with WhatsApp and you will have to move it to another app via email. Once the file is opened, you will find the following inside:
- Your Phone Number.
- Previous IP Connections.
- Device Type.
- Device Manufacturer.
- Your Profile Picture.
- All your Contacts Phone Numbers.
- All Contacts You have blocked.
- Group Names you’re part of etc.
Conclusion
That’s how you can simply find out everything WhatsApp knows about you. Got any questions? Drop a comment down below.