Facebook

Yes, Whatsapp does.

Looking at Whatsapp's legal info some notable info, nothing too surprising:

* "You expressly acknowledge and agree that in order to provide the Service, WhatsApp may periodically access your contact list and/or address book on your mobile device [...] You hereby give your express consent to WhatsApp to access your contact list and/or address book for mobile phone numbers in order to provide and use the Service. We do not collect names, addresses or email addresses, just mobile phone numbers."

* Section 3C concerning not hacking them and giving a list of tools you definitely can't use under the agreement.

* "If you are under 16 years of age, you are not permitted to use the WhatsApp Service."

* "If another user has your mobile phone number stored in their mobile phone address book or contact list, they will be able see your status information unless you have chosen to block such user."

* "The WhatsApp Site and Service are hosted in the United States and are intended for and directed to users in the United States. If you are a user accessing the WhatsApp Site and Service from the European Union, Asia, or any other region [...] you are transferring your personal information to the United States and you expressly consent to that transfer and consent to be governed by California law for these purposes."

* "In the event that WhatsApp is acquired by or merged with a third party entity, we reserve the right to transfer or assign the information we have collected from our users as part of such merger, acquisition, sale, or other change of control." [they go on to say that they may not be able to control use of information in cases which include "reorganization"]

http://www.whatsapp.com/legal/

Reading between the lines it seems you can hack them with fiddler (or the like) and that the legal info is saying "your info is definitely being monitored by USA governmental groups"?

Ah yes, this reminds me of that old joke...

> Why did Facebook buy WhatsApp?

Because Snapchat isn't for sale.

The numbers are staggering: 450 million users in less than three years. That's a real company. That's more users than most startups will ever see in a lifetime of use let alone daily usage.

It took FB 10 years to get to where it is today. Is that a process that WhatsApp wants to go through? I mean the finality usually ends in either an acquisition or an IPO; having shareholders on your mind constantly seems pretty stressful. I suppose they could've stayed private and seen what's possible.

Either way the Forbes website is visual chaos and I'm still nauseous and disoriented after reading that article.