What are the legal rights of individuals regarding their WhatsApp number data?

[muskanhossain]

In the context of WhatsApp number data, individuals have several legal rights, primarily stemming from data protection laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States. While the direct applicability and specific details might vary geographically, the core principles aim to empower individuals with control over their personal information. Here's a breakdown of these rights:

1. The Right to Be Informed:
Individuals have the right to know what personal data malaysia whatsapp number data concerning them is being collected, how it will be used, for how long it will be stored, and whether it will be shared with third parties. WhatsApp's Privacy Policy serves to fulfill this right by providing information about their data processing practices related to phone numbers and other data.

2. The Right of Access:
Individuals have the right to obtain confirmation from WhatsApp as to whether or not personal data concerning them is being processed, and to access that data. This includes the right to request a copy of their WhatsApp account information, which includes their phone number and associated details. WhatsApp provides a "Request Account Info" feature within the app to facilitate this.

3. The Right to Rectification:
Individuals have the right to request the correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data. If a user believes their WhatsApp number or associated profile information is incorrect, they can modify it within the app settings.


4. The Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten):
Under certain circumstances, individuals have the right to request the deletion of their personal data. This would involve deleting their WhatsApp account, which, according to WhatsApp's policy, leads to the deletion of account information, profile photo, and removal from groups. However, it's important to note that this doesn't affect data held by other users (e.g., their copy of messages).



5. The Right to Restrict Processing:
Individuals have the right to request the restriction of processing of their personal data in specific situations, such as when the accuracy of the data is contested or the processing is unlawful.

6. The Right to Data Portability:
In some cases, individuals have the right to receive their personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller. While WhatsApp allows users to export their chat history, the portability of the phone number data itself in a readily transferable format to another service might be more limited.

7. The Right to Object:
Individuals have the right to object to the processing of their personal data in certain situations, including processing for direct marketing purposes. WhatsApp's settings allow users to manage who can see their profile information, which indirectly relates to controlling unwanted contact.


8. Rights in Relation to Automated Decision-Making, Including Profiling:
While less directly applicable to phone numbers themselves, individuals have the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects them.

Specific Considerations for WhatsApp Numbers:

Visibility within the Platform: It's important to understand that within WhatsApp, your phone number is inherently visible to other users you interact with (in groups and direct chats). There isn't a setting to completely hide it within these contexts as it's the primary identifier.
Third-Party Sharing: Legal rights also extend to how WhatsApp shares your phone number data with third parties, including its parent company Meta. Users have the right to be informed about such sharing and, in some jurisdictions, may have the right to object or limit this sharing to the extent allowed by law and WhatsApp's policies.