WhatsApp announced last week that it will go ahead with the privacy update but not without proving adequate information to users. WhatsApp has been in the eye of the storm ever since it announced its new terms of service of service and privacy policies. The lack of clarity forced users to migrate to other apps. However, WhatsApp is determined to roll out its privacy policy on May 15.
In January, WhatsApp had informed its users through an in-app notification about its privacy policy that was supposed to launch on February 8. WhatsApp had also mentioned that if users do not accept the policies, they will lose access to their WhatsApp account. However, due to the confusion around the new terms of service, WhatsApp had postponed the launch date of its app to May 15.
The rule remains the same even now. If users do not accept the privacy policy, they will lose access to their accounts. WhatsApp told in an email to TechCrunch that it will ‘slowly ask’ users to accept the new terms of service ‘in order to have full functionality of WhatsApp’ from May 15. However, if the users do not comply with the new policies, “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 app,” the company said.
The short time means users will have access to WhatsApp for a few weeks even if they do not accept the policies. WhatsApp faced severe backlash from its users and many accused WhatsApp of stealing their private information and sharing them with Facebook. Addressing the concerns, WhatsApp wrote in its blog, We’ve heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update. There’s been a lot of misinformation causing concern and we want to help everyone understand our principles and the facts.”
WhatsApp has launched a new campaign to educate users about the new policies. WhatsApp will now display a small banner at the top of the chat window. WhatsApp will start rolling out the small banners for users in a couple of weeks. Through the banner, WhatsApp will inform users about how the policies will change and how much information will WhatsApp collect. Users will be given the choice to first review the policies and then accept them. The banner will appear at the top of the chat and in order to read them, users will have to tap on the ‘Tap to review’. Once rolled out, WhatsApp will keep reminding users to read the terms of service and then accept the new update.
