After causing a huge virtual meltdown with the announcement of its new privacy policy, and then postponing the implementation of said policy due to online fury, WhatsApp has spent the last few weeks trying not to stir up trouble. However, it has just revealed what will happen to users who do not accept its new privacy policy by the May 15 deadline.
WhatsApp has apparently been emailing some of its merchant partners to inform them that it will “slowly ask” users to accept the new privacy policy “in order to have full functionality” of the app, according to TechCrunch, which saw an email and confirmed its veracity with WhatsApp. The email also pointed to a public WhatsApp FAQ page titled, “What happens on the effective date?”
The FAQ page states that WhatsApp will not delete the accounts of users who do not accept the new terms, but that they won’t be able to use it like they normally do.
“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,” WhatsApp wrote.
If the “for a short time” part has you scratching your head, WhatsApp did elaborate, sort of. Users who do not accept the new privacy policy by May 15 will be considered inactive users and subject to WhatsApp’s existing policy on that front, as detailed below.
“To maintain security, limit data retention, and protect the privacy of our users, WhatsApp accounts are generally deleted after 120 days of inactivity,” WhatsApp states. “Content stored locally on a user’s device prior to account deletion will remain until WhatsApp is deleted from the device. When a user reregisters for WhatsApp on the same device, their locally stored content will reappear.”
Source: WhatsApp: Users Who Don’t Accept Privacy Terms Can’t Read Texts
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