Facebook

WhatsApp announced in a blog post Thursday that it will begin to share phone numbers and other data on the activity of its one billion users with its parent company Facebook (FB, Tech30), more than two years after getting acquired.

The same has been done by the secure messaging app WhatsApp, which has now made it crystal clear that the popular messaging service will begin sharing its users’ data with its parent company, Facebook.

However, WhatsApp is offering a partial opt-out for Facebook targeted ads and product related purposes, which I will let you know later in this article, but completely opting out of the data-sharing does not seem to be possible.

Let's know what the company has decided to do with your data.

It is the first time the company has changed its privacy policy since the firm was bought by Facebook in 2014.

WhatsApp will now share users' phone numbers with the social network, which it will use to provide "more relevant" friend suggestions and advertisements.

One analyst said some people might feel "betrayed" by the move.

Data sharing

Their game development tools have been integrated into Unity 5.4 version of the game engine. The same would be available to a limited number of developers as a part of the closed alpha release which can be availed by applying before 31st August.

Unity’s game engine powers most of the games available on Facebook’s social gaming platform. Now, with this collaboration, Facebook wants to extend the horizon of their gaming world to the PCs. This would be done by enabling downloadable games for PCs which will be isolated from distractions like News Feed.

It looks like Facebook is taking actions against another notorious torrent website by removing its official Facebook page.

According to the latest reports, the social network is taking such steps against ExtraTorrent after multiple complaints made by copyright holders.

It’s a well-known fact that Facebook takes measures to curb piracy and remove the copyright-infringing links from its website. Along the similar lines, Facebook has repeatedly flagged the ExtraTorrent Facebook page for copyright infringement. Recently, it resulted in the removal of the page.

The rising popularity of ad-blockers poses a threat to online businesses that rely on advertising revenue.

The social network told users it understood how annoying ads could be.

It promised to better offer tools for controlling what material does make it through to users' newsfeeds.

"As we offer people more powerful controls, we'll also begin showing ads on Facebook desktop for people who currently use ad blocking software," said Facebook's advertising vice-president Andrew Bosworth in a blog post.

 Facebook has reintroduced its plan to provide Internet access in rural India, but this time:

The social networking giant is planning to launch a commercial WiFi service in India.

Facebook is testing a WiFi service in rural India, allowing people with no internet connection to buy affordable data packages from their local internet service providers (ISPs) in order to access the Internet via local hotspots.

The company is testing a new feature to encourage people to share more original photos and videos. Starting Friday, when users in Canada and Brazil open the mobile app, they will be immediately greeted by a large, live image of their own face. They can tap to overlay text or drawing and share the photo or video as a status update.

The social networking giant has hence launched a slew of similar features as well. Users on the social networking giant will be able to show their support for their favorite teams while also getting all the news they could want from a personalized section on the feed.

It will be available to 1.7bn people on the platform worldwide via Rooney's and the Manchester United Facebook pages.

Proceeds will be distributed to Rooney's four chosen charities.

The game at Old Trafford, between Rooney's only two professional clubs, marks his 12 years' service at United.

Rooney said: "I am delighted my testimonial game will be streamed globally, which will hopefully raise awareness and increase donations."