WhatsApp will start sharing your number on Facebook, here’s how to stop it!

 

Facebook-owned WhatsApp today updated its Terms and Privacy Policy for the first time in four years to reflect that the messaging service will start sharing select account data with Facebook in order to improve targeted advertising. Wait, does that mean that you’re going to be inundated with ads on WhatsApp? In a word, no—at least for the time being. As per the amended terms of service, “We still do not allow third-party banner ads on WhatsApp.”

Exiting WhatsApp users can opt out of Facebook data sharing in Settings → Account within 30 days of accepting the new Terms and Privacy Policy.

Don’t worry—your messages, photos and other media shared through WhatsApp won’t be automatically posted on Facebook for others to see.

“We won’t post or share your WhatsApp number with others, including on Facebook, and we still won’t sell, share, or give your phone number to advertisers,” reads the post.

Again, only account data is shared with Facebook, not your chats and media.

Data sharing is purely for the purpose of improving users’ Facebook ads and products experiences, the company ensures. It also lets it do things like track basic metrics about how often people use these services and better fight spam on WhatsApp.

After accepting data sharing, you’ll see better friend suggestions and more relevant ads on Facebook. “For example, you might see an ad from a company you already work with, rather than one from someone you’ve never heard of,” says the firm.

More information is available in this WhatsApp support document.

Thankfully, you can easily opt out, right when the prompt goes up, or within 30 days of accepting the new terms, here’s how.

Method #1

If you haven’t yet accepted the new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy:

1) Launch WhatsApp and you’ll see the updated terms. Tap Read to continue.

2) Scroll the text until you see a check box at the bottom of the screen. If you do not want your WhatsApp account information shared with Facebook, untick the box.

3) Tap Agree.

Method #2

If you have already accepted the new terms, you will have an additional 30 days to opt out of data sharing by following these simple steps:

1) Launch WhatsApp and tap the Settings tab.

2) Now tap Account.

3) Untick the box labeled “Share my account info” or toggle the control.

Doing so will stop sharing your WhatsApp account information with Facebook for the purposes of improving ads and products experiences.

When you opt out, the Facebook family of companies will still receive and use this information for other purposes. And what other purposes might these be? According to the official support document, your WhatsApp information is still being used to:

• Improve infrastructure and delivery systems
• Understand how these services are being used
• Secure systems and fight spam, abuse or infringement activities

And that’s all there’s to it.

What if I agree to data sharing?

If you agree to data sharing, things like the mobile phone number your registered with WhatsApp and the last time you used the service will be used by Facebook to improve friend suggestions and make ads more relevant to you.

“Nothing you share on WhatsApp, including your messages, photos, and account information, will be shared onto Facebook or any of the Facebook family of apps for others to see,” ensures the firm.

Also, Facebook currently has no plans to start serving ads through WhatsApp.

Source

Apple releases new iPhone 5s ad “Dreams” showcasing uses in medicine, firefighting and more!

We don’t talk a whole lot about the business applications for smartphones here because they are typically so far detached from the consumer experience it makes no sense to get too deep with such things.

Apple has taken a similar approach to the marketing of its products, and by most measures, it has been successful. The TV and video ads in particular tend to zoom in on one thing drive home that point, and that is what Apple’s latest ad does here.

The strengths being extoled here are familiar, it shows off some of the many different apps that make the iPhone 5s such a powerful tool, but not just for the individual consumer per se. This brings the familiar individual user experience to a level that has applications across a wide spectrum of business as well.

Much of the penetration Apple has been able to make into business has been through executives seeking to bring that simple user experience to their enterprise. While the effort has found some measure of success, Apple knows there is more that needs to be done to be more productive on that front (hence the partnership with IBM). Expect to see more of this as Apple solidifies its partnership with IBM and branches out to get its hooks into business in other ways.

Yahoo Logo To Change Every Day For A Month Till Unveiling Of New Official One

Your eyes do not deceive you — the Yahoo logo is different today. It’s the first day of 30 days of the company’s tantalizing tease until it unveils an official new logo next month.

“The new logo will be a modern redesign that’s more reflective of our reimagined design and new experiences,” says chief marketing officer Kathy Savitt, who announced today’s launch of “30 days of change” on the Sunnyvale company’s blog. (See video below.) She said the new logo, coming Sept. 4, is meant to convey Yahoo’s “renewed sense of purpose and progress.”

The company has studied consumer sentiment about the logo over the past year, according to AllThingsD, which also points out the logo has been changed twice since Yahoo was founded in 1995.

With a month-long buildup this time around, though, one would think the finished product better be exclamation-point worthy. Or make you want to yodel. (In case you were worried, the exclamation point and the yodel will stay.)

Apple releases new iPhone 5 ad, highlights the camera on the phone

Apple has posted a new commercial on its website and on its YouTube channel, and it’s one of the better ones I’ve seen in recent memory. The video — entitled Photos Every Day — is a montage of the many ways that people use their iPhone’s to take photos in everyday situations. The commercial ends by saying: “Everyday, more photos are taken with the iPhone than any other camera.”

Unlike Samsung, whose ads have now stopped making sense entirely, the new iPhone ad shows people actually using the phone. You can see people taking photos with the device in every day conditions, editing them on the phone and then sharing them.

The new ad brings back the class and charm of old Apple ads with the use of endearing and relatable scenarios and plays to the tune of a soft and beautiful piano piece. The ad ends with telling you that more photos are taken with the iPhone than any other camera, likely quoting the Flickr statistics that clearly show the iPhone as the top camera on the website (which includes other mobile phones and dedicated cameras).

The new ad is a clear improvement over some of Apple’s recent ads and light years ahead of what everyone else is doing (except for Google, who seems to be the only other technology company who knows how to do ads anymore). Hopefully, they’ll be releasing more of these soon.

 

Beyoncé is the new face of H&M’s summer campaign!

Beyonce‘s new album may be M.I.A, but the singing superstar is ensuring she remains a hot topic this Summer. For, after ample speculation, not only has her H&M campaign been confirmed, the all-out promo push is set to bring with it new music too.

WWD report that the 31-year-old has been tapped to front the high-street chain’s Summer line and will appear in television commercials, print ads and billboards in support of the collection (which she also had a hand in designing).

The campaign’s accompanying commercial was helmed by ‘Telephone’ director Jonas Åkerlund and features a new Beyoncé track, ‘Standing on the Sun’. “It was a beautiful shoot on a tropical island. It felt more like making a video than a commercial,” Beyonce commented.

Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin snapped the still ads in Nassau, Bahamas. The print and outdoor spots read, “Beyoncé as Mrs. Carter in H&M,”paying homage to the title of her upcoming sell-out world tour.

The collection will available in stores and online starting in May