Comments
WhatsApp’s controversial privacy update and terms of service will come into effect from May 15.
The Facebook-owned messaging platform had postponed the deadline for users to accept the update to its privacy policy and terms of service by three months with the new options now being made available on May 15.
The company has now updated its FAQ page ( via The Verge ) detailing the deadlines for users to accept the policy and the steps that it will take.
“No one will have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of WhatsApp on May 15th because of this update,” reads the page.
Related Stories
Cyber agency cautions users against weaknesses detected in WhatsApp
Expert say these weaknesses ‘exist in WhatsApp applications due to a cache configuration issue and missing bounds check within the audio decoding pipeline’“For the last several weeks we've displayed a notification in WhatsApp providing more information about the update. After giving everyone time to review, we're continuing to remind those who haven’t had the chance to do so to review and accept. After a period of several weeks, the reminder people receive will eventually become persistent,”it said.
Users who receive the persistent reminder will encounter limited functionality on WhatsApp until they accept the updates.
“This will not happen to all users at the same time,” the messaging platform said.
Limited functionality
“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,” it explained.
“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,” it added.
WhatsApp has relaxed the deadline for accepting the policy. The company in February had said that users who do not accept the update will lose certain functionalities within the app, followed by the implementation of WhatsApp’s inactive accounts policy.
“To give you enough time to review changes at your own pace and convenience, we’ve extended the effective date to May 15th. If you haven’t accepted by then, WhatsApp will not delete your account. “However, you won't have full functionality of WhatsApp until you accept. For a short time, you'll be able to receive calls and notifications, but won't be able to read or send messages from the app,” it had said.
“Keep in mind that separately, our existing policy related to inactive users will apply,” WhatsApp said in the latest FAQ update.
As per the inactive accounts policy, WhatsApp accounts are “generally deleted” after 120 days of inactivity.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.