For years, WhatsApp has been criticised for collecting and storing vast quantities of user data. All data that users provide within their account – such as display names, birthdays, phone numbers, status messages and profile images – is stored by WhatsApp. Messages and photos are generally not stored for the long term, but they are saved in intermediate storage for 30 days in the event of non-delivery. Deleted messages can be recovered with a backup on the smartphone itself – they don’t usually end up on a WhatsApp server. However, the service regularly records contact data and creates internal user profiles by collecting location data and tracking calls.
Although WhatsApp guarantees the permanent deletion of all data, it’s not absolutely clear what happens to collected data. For instance, log records are stored in the WhatsApp database and the company is able to store additional data for legal reasons.
According to WhatsApp itself, the following happens to data after a WhatsApp account is deleted:
- Access to the account is no longer possible.
- The deletion of backup data can last up to 90 days.
- Already sent files and messages to other users will not be deleted.
- Copies of some data (such as log files) may be kept in the database in anonymised form.
- Further data may be retained for legal reasons. WhatsApp refers to its privacy policy regarding this.
- Information at other Facebook companies is also deleted.