WhatsApp has revealed how it will gradually paralyze the accounts held by users who do not accept the imminent changes of the platform’s privacy policy, which will come into force on May 15.
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The new WhatsApp banner that explains the privacy policy changes
According to an email seen by TechCrunch to one of its trading partners, WhatsApp said it would “slowly ask” users who have not yet accepted the policy changes to comply with the new terms in the coming weeks, “in order to have the full functionality of WhatsApp” starting May 15.
If they still do not accept the terms, “for a short time, these users will be able to receive calls and notifications, but will not be able to read or send messages from the application,” the company added in the note.
The company has confirmed TechCrunch that the note accurately characterizes his plan and that the “short time” will last a few weeks. WhatsApp policy for inactive users states that accounts are “generally deleted after 120 days of inactivity.”
WhatsApp first announced its new terms of use at the beginning of last month, and the changes at that time have been interpreted by many users to mean that the platform will share its messages with the parent company Facebook.
In fact, private messages between users will remain encrypted from one end to the other so that they can only be accessed by those in the conversation. However, WhatsApp allows users to send messages to companies, and the same protections will not apply to these messages. Business message data may be used for commercial purposes, such as targeting ads on Facebook, with some data stored on Facebook servers.
The misperception provoked a negative reaction among users of the Facebook-owned platform, causing a rival exodus with rival messaging applications such as Telegram and Signal, both of which were quick to exploit the situation by convincing former users with more mainstream chat features.
Since then, WhatsApp has used in-app status updates to clarify that the update does not affect Facebook data sharing in terms of user chats or profile information, and the new terms apply instead to those who use the chat feature. business.
In the weeks leading up to May, WhatsApp will start launching a small in-app banner (pictured above) that users can tap to review privacy policies.
If you tap the banner, a more detailed summary of the changes will be displayed, including other information about how WhatsApp works with Facebook. The Facebook-owned company says it will eventually remind users to read the new policy and accept it to continue using the app.