WhatsApp's Privacy Policy, which is publicly available and periodically updated, outlines the types of information it collects. This information falls into several broad categories:
Account Information:
Phone Number: This is mandatory for creating a WhatsApp account and serves as your primary identifier.
Profile Name: A name you choose for your WhatsApp profile.
Profile Picture: Optional.
"About" Information: An optional status message.
Your Connections (Contacts):
WhatsApp asks for permission to access your device's address book. It then uploads the phone numbers from your contacts (in a cryptographically hashed format) to its servers to identify which of your contacts are also georgia phone number list WhatsApp users, allowing you to connect with them.
WhatsApp explicitly states it does not store your contact lists with Meta or share them for Meta's own purposes (like ad targeting on Facebook/Instagram). It processes the hashed numbers only to facilitate connections within WhatsApp.
User Content (Unencrypted Components):
While messages are E2EE, certain elements you provide are not encrypted by WhatsApp's E2EE, as they are necessary for service functionality:
Your profile picture, "about" information, and names and descriptions of your communities and groups. This information is visible to others based on your privacy settings.