Facebook-owned instant messaging platform on Friday, 7 May announced that it has scrapped its 15-May deadline for users to accept its privacy policy and that it would “follow up” with people who have not accepted the new privacy terms and services.
Earlier in January, WhatsApp had updated its Terms of Services and its Privacy Policy and started sending in-app notifications to its users informing them about a change and that users will need to accept these terms and changes in order to keep using their WhatsApp accounts till 8 February.
Regarding the 15-May deadline, the company has stated that “no one will have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of WhatsApp on 15 May because of this update”. However, the company has continued to remind users who have not accepted the T&C’s yet.
In this article, we answer all your questions regarding the 15 May and concerns regarding privacy.
What happens after I receive a persistent reminder?
According to WhatsApp, users will encounter limited functionality on WhatsApp until the user accepts the updates.
Here are the two things that will happen if you don’t accept the piracy policy according to WhatsApp:
- You won’t be able to access your chat list, but you can still answer incoming phone and video calls. If you have notifications enabled, you can tap on them to read or respond to a message or call back a missed phone or video call.
- After a few weeks of limited functionality, you won’t be able to receive incoming calls or notifications and WhatsApp will stop sending messages and calls to your phone.
What happens to my chat history?
According to the platform, you can export your chat history on Android or iPhone and download a report of your account.
Will WhatsApp delete my account if I don’t accept the update?
The company has stated on their website that the platform won’t delete your account if you don’t accept the update.
What data does WhatsApp collect and when in the new privacy policy?
One of the many changes that the company provided information on is the data it collects from users, which includes account information, address book information, status information, transactions and payments data, customer support communications and messages in some circumstances. According to the company, messages are stored only on your device and not on the company servers.
Does WhatsApp collect data on messages as well under the new privacy policy?
According to the company, the following scenarios describe circumstances where WhatsApp will store your messages:
Undelivered Messages: If a message cannot be delivered immediately (for example, if the recipient is offline), WhatsApp will keep it in encrypted form on its servers for up to 30 days and try to deliver it. If a message is still undelivered after 30 days, the message will be deleted.
Media Forwarding: When a user forwards media within a message, WhatsApp will store that media temporarily in encrypted form on our servers to aid efficient delivery of additional forwards.
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