On the other hand, apps like WhatsApp won’t work at all without access to the phone user’s contacts list, so asking for permission is a mere formality and Meta gets your information regardless.

> On the other hand, apps like WhatsApp won’t work at all without access to the phone user’s contacts list,

I don't think that's true. Users could be allowed to enter addresses individuality or ideally, when apps ask for permissions to a person's contacts phones could allow users to select what the app can and cannot see (only certain contacts, or phone numbers but not email addresses, etc)

There are ways phones and apps could handle contact data while preserving privacy, but nobody is interested in helping people keep their data private. Phones are designed to leak your data like a sieve and apps are designed to collect every scrap of data they can get their hands on.

I was speaking about how WhatsApp currently works. Not how WhatsApp could potentially work (and the functionality you suggest would almost certainly never be implemented unless Meta were compelled by law to do so).