WhatsApp has now officially revealed how the service will gradually shut down the accounts of users who do not accept the upcoming changes to the platform's privacy policy.
The changes to WhatsApp's privacy policy are set to come into effect on May 15. Users who do not consent will be permanently banned. According to an email to one of its trading partners seen by TechCrunch, WhatsApp will "slowly ask" users who have not yet accepted the privacy policy changes to agree to the new terms over the coming weeks "in order to receive full functionality of WhatsApp from May 15." It states: out:
If users still have not accepted the new terms, they will be able to receive calls and notifications for a short time but will not be able to read or send messages from the app.
The Facebook subsidiary confirmed to TechCrunch that the note accurately characterizes the plan and that the "short time" factor will cover a few weeks. WhatsApp's policy for inactive users states that accounts are "generally deleted after 120 days of inactivity." The terms of service change was announced early last month.
WhatsApp privacy: Private messages remain private
Due to the unfortunate wording, users interpreted the changes as meaning that the platform would share their messages with the parent company Facebook. In fact, private messages between users remain end-to-end encrypted so that they can only be viewed by the participants in the conversation. However, WhatsApp also enables communication with companies. The same protection does not apply to these. The data in business messages can be used for commercial purposes, such as targeting ads on Facebook, with some data being stored on Facebook's servers. Due to the unfortunate wording, the whole thing was misinterpreted and led to a veritable shitstorm.
New banner aims to provide clarity
WhatsApp has since used in-app status updates to clarify that the update will not impact data sharing with Facebook regarding user chats or profile information. The new terms will instead apply to those using the Business Chat feature. Over the next few weeks, WhatsApp will start rolling out a small in-app banner (see image) that users can tap to double-check the privacy policy. Tapping the banner will reveal a more detailed summary of the changes, including more details about how WhatsApp works with Facebook. The Facebook-owned company says it will eventually remind users to read and accept the new policy in order to continue using the app. (Photo by Denys Prykhodov / Bigstockphoto)
