The world’s most popular messaging service, WhatsApp, on Thursday announced it would begin to share users’ numbers with social media giant Facebook with the aim of bringing companies and users closer together.

The update in WhatsApp’s terms and privacy policy was announced by the company on their official blog.

The statement said that the move to strengthen ties with Facebook was to “test ways for people to communicate with businesses in the months ahead.”

By sharing personal telephone numbers, the company aimed to enhance Facebook users’ experience with tailored advertisement as well as to gather data on the frequency of WhatsApp usage.

With the update, businesses such as banking services could notify clients of fraudulent activity and airlines could warn passengers of delayed flights, the statement said.

WhatsApp also said that Facebook affiliates, such as photo-sharing application Instagram, could use the information to make personalized suggestions on whom to follow based on one’s contact list.

Facebook bought ownership of the messaging service in 2014 for $19.3 billion.

The company assured users that phone numbers will never be shared on Facebook nor sold to advertisers.

It added that private messages will remain encrypted and that no external parties would be able to read them.

The new update follows a series of development roll-outs by the company, including WhatsApp Calling and WhatsApp for web and desktop.

Starting Thursday, WhatsApp users can expect to receive a notification of the change in terms and conditions.

Both WhatsApp and Facebook each have a user base of over one billion people.

Madrid, Aug 25 (EFE)