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WhatsApp has delayed an update of its privacy policy which has caused confusion and adverse reactions among users due to fears that it could mean a wider sharing of data with the owner of the Facebook messaging application.
“We have heard from so many people how much confusion there is about our recent update. There has been a lot of misinformation that worries us and we want to help everyone understand our principles and facts,” WhatsApp said in a post. on the blog over the weekend.
The updates specifically address features that allow users to send messages and interact with companies on WhatsApp. Last year, Facebook announced that companies using WhatsApp could store and manage their chats with customers using Facebook’s “secure hosting infrastructure.”
As part of this, a company can see the content of the message between it and a user and can use this information for their own marketing purposes, which could include advertising on Facebook.
WhatsApp has been set to start asking users on February 8 to accept the updated terms to continue using the app. But Facebook said it is now pushing the date back for people to review and accept the terms. No one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8, Facebook added. People will “gradually” have the chance to review the policy “at their own pace” before the new business options become available on May 15.
Privacy updates have caused “confusion,” WhatsApp said. Many users thought that the application would share more data, including messages, with Facebook.
Many users were concerned that the updated privacy policy indicated a wider sharing of data between WhatsApp and Facebook. But this is not the case. Since 2016, WhatsApp has shared certain data with Facebook, such as your phone number.
But the content of the messages cannot be viewed by WhatsApp or Facebook. That’s because they’re encrypted. That doesn’t change.
However, users concerned about their privacy looked at rival messaging applications Signal and Telegram. These two applications are marketed as confidential and both have reported increasing downloads.
On Saturday, Signal suffered an outage due to an influx of users. Signal said it was “adding new servers and extra capacity at a record pace every day” last week and the app returned online on Sunday.