WhatsApp says it will give users more time to agree to its controversial new privacy policy, citing mass \u201cconfusion\u201d and \u201cmisinformation\u201d about the update. The Facebook-owned messaging app now says that it will allow users to \u201creview the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15,\u201d and that it won\u2019t be cutting off anyone\u2019s service on February 8. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update,\u201d the company wrote in an update. \u201cThere’s been a lot of misinformation causing concern and we want to help everyone understand our principles and the facts.\u201d The company said it remains committed to end-to-end encryption and that \u201cthis update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WhatsApp\u2019s decision to delay the new policy comes after the company abruptly introduced privacy changes earlier this month with a pop-up warning that users could accept the new policy by Feb. 8, or lose their ability to use the app altogether. The new terms address the company\u2019s recent focus on business messaging, a feature that\u2019s widely used in many places outside the US. But the warning alarmed many users, who interpreted the changes as Facebook tightening its grip over their data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, WhatsApp is walking back some of its previous messaging. \u201cWe\u2019re now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms,\u201d the company says. \u201cNo one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8. We\u2019ll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even with the delay, WhatsApp may find it difficult to reverse the damage that\u2019s already been done. Encrypted messaging app Signal \u2014 which is now backed by one of WhatsApp\u2019s original founders who has turned into a vocal critic of Facebook in recent years \u2014 has seen a wave of new users since WhatsApp\u2019s bungled privacy announcement (and an extra boost from Elon Musk). It\u2019s also prompted investigations from officials in multiple countries.
Engadget<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WhatsApp says it will give users more time to agree to its controversial new privacy policy, citing mass \u201cconfusion\u201d and \u201cmisinformation\u201d about the update. The Facebook-owned messaging app now says that it will allow users to \u201creview the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15,\u201d and that it …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29761,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-news","category-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29762,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29760\/revisions\/29762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}