Whatsapp has recently announced that it would continue with its privacy update but ‘not without providing necessary information to its users, a report published by India Today said. The popular messaging service found itself in hot water last month after it mandated its users to agree to its new terms of service and privacy policies that forced users to scour for its alternatives and migrate to other apps.
However, Whatsapp has remained unfazed by the criticism strewn on its way and is determined to roll out its new policy update on May 15. In an email correspondence with TechCrunch, Whatsapp admitted that it would gradually ask its users to accept the new terms of service “in order to have full functionality of WhatsApp” from May 15. In case users do not comply with the new policies, for a short duration, they would be able to receive calls and notification, but they won’t be able to read or send messages from the app, the company said. The short duration means the users will have limited access to Whatsapp for a time of a few weeks if they do not accept the updated policies.
Whatsapp faces backlash after privacy updates
Earlier last month, the popular instant messaging service Whatsapp kicked up a storm when it introduced a murky new set of privacy regulations mandatory for its users to accept or risk losing access to the app. The move sparked widespread criticism, with people slamming the Facebook-owned messaging service for making it compulsory for its users to accept the new privacy policies. Spooked by the public fallout, Whatsapp uploaded an anodyne post on its blog, reassuring people that their privacy is paramount and that a misinformation campaign is waged to tarnish its image. The messaging app also stated that the deadline to accept the new terms would be shifted to May 15.
Acknowledging the public backlash, Whatsapp took to its blog to assuage the mounting concerns of privacy among the public. “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 said in a blog.
Whatsapp to launch small banner on chat windows to educate users about privacy policy changes
Additionally, Whatsapp has also launched a new campaign to inform users about the new policies. Whatsapp will now have a small banner at the top of the chat window. The small banner will start appearing for users in a couple of weeks’ time. With the banner, Whatsapp will communicate to the users about the changes it made in its policies and how much information Whatsapp will collect. Unlike the previous occasion, users will be first given the choice to first review the policies and then accept them.
The small banners will appear on the top of the chat and in order to view them, users will to have to tap on the “Tap to review” option. Once the privacy policy update is rolled out, Whatsapp will keep reminding the users to read the new terms of service and then accept it.
