WhatsApp Co-founder on Privacy Concerns: 'WhatsApp Doesn’t Have Much Data'

According to co-founder Brian Acton, Facebook did not acquire WhatsApp for its data.

Speaking last night at the opening party of StartX OpenX, WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton addressed concerns about the Facebook acquisition. Many users were worried that Facebook acquired the messaging service for its data on 450 million-plus users. But according to Acton, WhatsApp sees the deal as an investment.

“WhatsApp doesn’t have much data. We don’t have much beyond a phone number to work with. Yeah, on Facebook, you have your name, your age… your email address… We don’t have a lot of data to share to start with,” he said.

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