Cheers mate. All good. It was lazy of me to ask. My apologies. I...

Cheers mate. All good. It was lazy of me to ask. My apologies. I was in the midst of being ambushed by kids with nerf dart guns.
I've avoided the app (for messaging) for years due to that requirement and the fact that they share contact metadata with farcebook. I dug out an old iPhone, deleted the contacts and installed it on that. For anyone else who's concerned, the info below is from their website. I figured not being able to change settings was going to be a bit restrictive, which is why I chose to use a device with no contacts and grant the app access

“If you do not allow WhatsApp access to your contacts

Although we strongly recommend allowing WhatsApp access to your phone's contacts, you can continue to use WhatsApp in a limited capacity without allowing access.

If you deny WhatsApp access to your phone's contacts, you will be able to:
-Receive messages from other WhatsApp users and groups.
-Change WhatsApp Settings.

You will not be able to:
-See any contact names; you will only see phone numbers.
-Start new Group Chats or Broadcast Lists.”