WhatsApp acquisition by Facebook was one of the great tech news two years ago. The social network spent $19 billion on buying the messaging service, with the promise of keeping user data privacy as it was at the time.

However, recently WhatsApp announced that it will start sharing the phone number of its users with Facebook, according to the company, to improve users’ “Facebook ads and products experiences”.

The messenger application is offering its users the option to opt out from this information sharing clause. If you are not willing to let WhatsApp share your phone number with Facebook and their advertising partners, you have two ways to prevent the application from doing it.

Option 1: Uncheck before accepting the new Terms and Privacy Policy

The first option is to opt out before accepting the new Terms and Privacy Policy. To do that, tap on “Read more about the key updated to out Terms and Privacy Policy” before you tap Agree to accept the new Terms of Service.

Images source: WhatsApp

You will see a check at the bottom of the screen. Uncheck it to prevent WhatsApp to share your account information with Facebook, and then tap on Agree.

Option 2: Modify your settings

If by any chance you have directly accepted the new Terms and Privacy Policy, you still have 30 days to modify your selection. In WhatsApp, go to Settings > Account and uncheck the option “Share my account info”.

Image source: WhatsApp