eBay and WhatsApp Privacy Policies: A Critical Review
This paper examines the privacy policies of two major digital platforms: eBay and WhatsApp. The first section evaluates eBay's privacy statement, focusing on its provisions related to data use and retention, third-party disclosure, and security measures, arguing that the policy is clear, reasonable, and appropriate for the platform's e-commerce context. The second section reviews WhatsApp's privacy policy, highlighting its approach to message storage, data collection, and user control over personal information. The paper concludes with a recommendation that WhatsApp implement temporary server-side message retention to assist law enforcement in investigating illegal activity conducted through the platform.
- Introduction to eBay as a Virtual Marketplace: Overview of eBay's platform and product categories
- Review of eBay's Privacy Policy: Analysis of eBay's data use, disclosure, and security provisions
- WhatsApp and Its Privacy Statement: Introduction to WhatsApp's privacy policy structure
- WhatsApp's Data Practices and a Key Recommendation: Evaluation of WhatsApp data handling and message retention proposal
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The paper applies a consistent evaluative framework across both platforms, assessing each privacy policy against criteria of clarity, reasonableness, and relevance to the platform's business model.
- It moves beyond simple description by offering a concrete policy recommendation for WhatsApp, grounding the suggestion in a real public safety concern (facilitation of illegal activity).
- Direct quotations from the actual privacy policies of eBay and WhatsApp are used to support analytical claims, lending specificity and credibility to the evaluation.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative policy analysis: it reads primary source documents (privacy policies) critically, identifies specific provisions, and evaluates their adequacy against user protection standards. This technique — moving from description to critical judgment to recommendation — is a foundational skill in applied business and technology ethics writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper is divided into two clearly marked parts. Part A covers eBay, opening with a definition of the platform, then reviewing three specific areas of its privacy policy (use/retention, disclosure, and security). Part B covers WhatsApp, similarly opening with a definition before evaluating the app's data practices and closing with a normative recommendation about message retention. Each part follows the same introduce–describe–evaluate structure.
Introduction to eBay as a Virtual Marketplace
The website examined in Part A of this review is eBay. In essence, eBay is "a 'virtual marketplace' allowing eMerchants, located anywhere in the world, who have registered with eBay to trade within this 'virtual world'" (Bardopoulos, 2015, p. 51). The site's product categories include, but are not limited to, health and beauty products, toys and video games, sporting goods, computers and consumer electronics, clothing, cell phones, and books. The site also offers motorcycle and automotive accessories and parts for sale.
Review of eBay's Privacy Policy
eBay has in place a comprehensive privacy policy that outlines the various ways in which the website may gather, use, and disclose customer data. The contents of the privacy statement include: scope and content, global privacy standards, collection, use and retention, choice, access, disclosure, security, important information, and questions or complaints (eBay, 2018). Based on an intensive review of the website's privacy policy, the policy is not only clear but also reasonable and relevant to the kind of business the website carries out.
Some of the statement's most reasonable provisions are those relating to use and retention, disclosure, and security. With regard to use and retention, the website observes that the personal information it collects is used for contact purposes (for instance, when the company needs to contact a user regarding their account), the enhancement of services offered, personalization of user experiences (such as recommending items a user may be interested in), better service provision and implementation, and the mitigation of illegal or fraudulent activity. The website also notes that some personal information may be retained for a period of time even after account closure, in order to ensure that its business model is not exploited to commit fraud or other illegal activity.
When it comes to disclosure, the company states that it does not under any circumstances disclose a user's personal information "to third parties for their marketing and advertising purposes without (a user's) explicit consent" (eBay, 2017). This provision is necessary to ensure that users are not inundated with spam emails and unsolicited calls from telemarketers. On the security front, the website states that it takes deliberate steps to protect user information through the use of "technical and administrative security measures to reduce the risks of loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure and alteration" (eBay, 2017). The relevance of this aspect of the privacy policy cannot be overstated, given the significant harm that identity theft and related issues could cause a customer.
WhatsApp and Its Privacy Statement
WhatsApp has in recent times become one of the most popular smartphone apps (Marks, 2017). In essence, WhatsApp "is a chat application (owned by Facebook) that doesn't require a mobile network — just a Wi-Fi connection" (Marks, 2017). The app has a detailed privacy statement that outlines the information it collects, how that information is used, what the user and the app share and with whom, and the circumstances under which the app may disclose a user's personal information to third parties. One key aspect of the app's privacy statement that is particularly useful is an advisory on how a user can guard their private information, so as to ensure that only what the user is comfortable sharing is disclosed to the outside world.
References
Bardopoulos, A. M. (2015). eCommerce and the effects of technology on taxation: Could VAT be the eTax solution? Springer.
eBay. (2018). User privacy notice. Retrieved from https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/privacy-policy.html
Marks, G. (2017). The most popular smartphone apps are all useful in one important way. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-most-popular-smartphone-apps-are-all-useful-in_us_59089137e4b03b105b44bc0e
WhatsApp. (2018). WhatsApp legal info: Privacy policy. Retrieved from https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/#key-updates
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.