Big changes are coming to WhatsApp. 。

On Thursday, WhatsApp announced in a blog post it will begin sharing phone numbers and analytics data of its users with its parent company, Facebook. It is the first time in four years the company's terms and privacy policy are going to be updated. 。

Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion back in 2014.
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According to the blog post, these changes are a result of WhatsApp's desire to allows businesses to directly communicate with its more than 1 billion users. WhatsApp will give users 30 days to opt out of having their WhatsApp number shared with Facebook. 。

The app announced that the Facebook coordination will allow it to do things like "track basic metrics" on how often people use its services and better fight spam. WhatsApp claimed that it will not post or share WhatsApp numbers with anyone, including advertisers.。

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"By connecting your phone number with Facebook's systems, Facebook can offer better friend suggestions and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them," the company wrote.。

The company also shared it has rolled out several new features such as end-to-end encryption and WhatsApp Calling alongside various other messaging tools like WhatsApp for web and desktop.。

Though privacy policies are being relaxed, WhatsApp assured its users that thanks to the new end-to-end encryption, private messages will remain private. 。

The latest version of WhatsApp will encrypt user messages by default, which means that no one outside of the conversation will be able to read them. "Even as we coordinate more with Facebook in the months ahead, your encrypted messages stay private and no one else can read them. Not WhatsApp, not Facebook, nor anyone else," WhatsApp wrote in the blog post.。