WhatsApp data use
Optional business connection · 8 October 2026
A business can authorise Perkstar to connect its own WhatsApp Business account and existing Business app number. Staff continue replying in WhatsApp Business. The business decides whether to connect the account, who can access it and which permitted messages to send. This notice supplements Perkstar’s Privacy Policy for that optional connection.
Information processed
Perkstar stores the business’s WhatsApp account and phone identifiers, display number, connection status and an encrypted access token. For approved loyalty messages, Perkstar sends Meta the recipient number, template and personalised content. Meta returns message identifiers and delivery information.
While connected, Meta also sends new customer replies and copies of messages sent through the WhatsApp Business app. Perkstar displays phone numbers, text, captions, message types, times, edits and deletions in a read-only conversation view. Messages may involve people who have not joined the loyalty programme; these conversations do not create loyalty profiles or marketing consent. Attachments remain available in WhatsApp; Perkstar does not download or store their files in this view.
Meta requires synchronization requests during connection. You can decline sharing earlier chat history in Meta. This release acknowledges contact and historical-message synchronization payloads without importing them into Perkstar.
Access, retention and choices
Conversation access requires the business’s customer-viewing and personal-data permissions. Export and erasure need additional permissions. Mirrored conversations are retained for 90 days. If erased earlier, message text, phone numbers and customer links are removed; non-reversible message-ID hashes remain until retention cleanup to prevent retry deliveries from restoring erased content.
Authorised staff can export a conversation or erase Perkstar’s copy from Campaigns → WhatsApp → Conversations, including conversations with people who have no loyalty account. Customer data exports include their Perkstar loyalty-message records. Business app conversations require a separate request to the business, which must verify the requester’s right to the phone number’s conversation before sharing an export or fulfilling an erasure request. A phone number entered on a loyalty profile does not prove ownership. Closing a loyalty account erases its associated Perkstar message records; it does not erase Business app chats matched by phone. Erasing Perkstar’s copy does not erase copies in WhatsApp or on recipients’ devices. New messages may appear while the account remains connected.
Disconnecting removes Perkstar’s stored access token and stops new API sending and conversation capture. Existing records remain subject to the retention and erasure controls. You can also remove the platform connection in WhatsApp Business.
WhatsApp marketing requires a separate opt-in. Reply STOP, unsubscribe, توقف or إلغاء to withdraw it, or change your loyalty account’s marketing preferences. Opting out of marketing does not prevent staff from answering a conversation you start.
Questions and providers
Contact the business you messaged about its use of your information. You can contact Perkstar at privacy@perkstar.co.uk for help locating or exercising the available controls. Do not send passwords or verification codes.
Meta operates WhatsApp under its own privacy policy and applicable business terms. The business uses its own account and billing arrangement with Meta.