WhatsApp Pay data won’t be shared with Facebook, company clarifies

Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has clarified that its recent privacy update doesn’t affect its payments product. In an FAQ post on its website, the company said that the WhatsApp India Payments Privacy Policy applies to payments made through the UPI-based WhatsApp Pay platform. UPI transaction history won’t be shared with Facebook, even though the new WhatsApp Privacy Policy states that data from business interactions will be shared with the parent company.

“If there is any conflict between the WhatsApp India Payments Privacy Policy and the WhatsApp Privacy Policy, the WhatsApp India Payments Privacy Policy will control solely with respect to your use of UPI Payments,” the post states. That said, the company did mention that it “may share” UPI transaction data “for identified exceptions” with affiliates and regulators “subject to regulatory approvals” in order to stop illegal use of the platforms and in compliance with local laws. According to WhatsApp, all payments data is encrypted and kept within the Indian borders, as per the Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines.

The company’s UPI-based payments platform had been approved by the Supreme Court late last year. WhatsApp is still only allowed to roll it out to only 20 million users, whereas the platform has over 400 million users in the country.