Social media platform WhatsApp has moved to reassure users that those who fail to accept the company’s new updated policies will not have their accounts deleted by February 8, 2021.
The company has been facing a public backlash since the beginning of the year when it announced the new Privacy Policies, with most users of the platform unsure about how the changes will affect their interaction on the platform as well as how their personal data is shared between WhatsApp and its parent company, Facebook.
“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 was built on a simple idea: what you share with your friends and family stays between you. This means we will always protect your personal conversations with end-to-end encryption, so that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can see these private messages. It’s why we don’t keep logs of who everyone’s messaging or calling. We also can’t see your shared location and we don’t share your contacts with Facebook,” the platform stated in an update issued on January 15, 2021 in reaction to the confusion and uncertainty that followed its updated policy statement.
The company stated that it’s “now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms,” adding that “no one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8.”
“We’re also going to do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsApp. We’ll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15,” it stated.
With these updates, none of that is changing. Instead, the update includes new options people will have to message a business on WhatsApp, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data. While not everyone shops with a business on WhatsApp today, we think that more people will choose to do so in the future and it’s important people are aware of these services. This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook.
In its updated Privacy Policy, WhatsApp sought to inform its billions of users about what information the company collects and how this affects users; explain the steps the platform takes to protect user privacy – like building its services to ensure that delivered messages aren’t stored by the company -; and giving users control over who they communicate with on the platform.
WhatsApp informed the public and the platform’s users that it “must receive or collect some information to operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market” its Services, including when a users install, access, or use its Services.
“The types of information we receive and collect depend on how you use our Services. We require certain information to deliver our Services and without this we will not be able to provide our Services to you. For example, you must provide your mobile phone number to create an account to use our Services,” the company noted.
“Our Services have optional features which, if used by you, require us to collect additional information to provide such features. You will be notified of such collection, as appropriate. If you choose not to provide the information needed to use a feature, you will be unable to use the feature. For example, you cannot share your location with your contacts if you do not permit us to collect your location data from your device. Permissions can be managed through your Settings menu on both Android and iOS devices.”
The information users share with WhatsApp include: their Account Information, their Messages, undelivered Messages (which is kept it in encrypted form on the company’s servers for up to 30 days as it tries to deliver it), Media Forwarding, their Connections, and Status Information. Users also share their Transactions And Payments Data with WhatsApp.
Automatically Collected Information include Usage And Log Information; Device And Connection Information; Location Information; and Cookies which the platform uses to provide more customised services to users.
However, the updated Privacy Policy does not apply to users based in the EU because of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals who live in the European Union (EU).
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