View: Another blow to WhatsApp’s new policy

We are living in an age of ‘surveillance capitalism’ where companies extensively stalk our behaviours, interactions, movements and bodies to make more money. Our personal data is used for customer profiling and targeted advertising. We may think twice before exchanging messages with a therapist or responding to a mental health workshop message on WhatsApp if we know that any such exchange could permanently attach a tag of potential mental illness to our profiles. Companies know that using a fitness application may not be as attractive if users know that their personal data could affect the terms of their health insurance. Therefore, many companies attempt to supress their actual data practices and use discreet tracking technologies.