These are primarily marketed to businesses

aburaihan66 · Post by **aburaihan66** » Wed May 21, 2025 6:25 am

WhatsApp Number Checkers (Third-Party Tools):
News: You might see news or ads for "WhatsApp Checker" tools (e.g., from companies like IDT Express or 2Chat). These tools claim to verify if a phone number is registered on WhatsApp, and sometimes provide carrier or regional info.

Context: for purposes like cleaning contact lists for marketing campaigns (e.g., ensuring messages are sent only to active WhatsApp users to reduce bounce rates).
Privacy Implications: While these tools don't expose personal chat data, their existence raises privacy questions about how easily a phone number can be verified as being on WhatsApp without the user's consent.
Alleged Data Breaches/Leaks:
News: This is the most alarming "data check" news. There have norway whatsapp number data been past reports (e.g., late 2022) of large databases of WhatsApp user phone numbers being allegedly compiled and sold online.
WhatsApp's Stance: WhatsApp typically denies these are direct "leaks" from its systems, often attributing them to "scraping" (collecting publicly available numbers).
User Action: News advises users to be vigilant. You can check services like "Have I Been Pwned" (though it's not specific to WhatsApp) to see if your phone number has appeared in any known data breaches.
WhatsApp's Own Privacy Updates (The "Better News"):
Usernames are Coming: This is massive news for privacy. WhatsApp is rolling out a feature allowing users to create unique usernames (e.g., @yourname). This means you'll be able to give someone your username to connect, and they won't need your phone number. This fundamentally changes how your "number data" can be shared.
Phone Number Privacy in Communities: This feature hides your phone number from most other members in large WhatsApp Communities.
Advanced Chat Privacy Settings: Recently (April 2025 news), WhatsApp rolled out settings to block others from exporting chats, auto-downloading media, and using messages for AI features, giving users more control over their content and context.