Messaging platform WhatsApp on Saturday announced that it will delay the implementation of its new privacy policy that has faced massive backlash, and led to millions of users opting for its competitors like Signal and Telegram.
In a tweet, WhatsApp said that users will not have their accounts suspended on February 8, the earlier decided deadline to accept the new privacy policies.
“We’re now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms,” WhatsApp said in a blog post. “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.”
The messaging app reiterated the claim that neither WhatsApp nor its parent company Facebook has access to personal messages of the users.
“...We will always protect your personal conversations with end-to-end encryption, so that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can see these private messages.” the blog mentioned.
Earlier this month, WhatsApp users received a notification that it was preparing a new privacy policy, and it reserved the right to share some user data with Facebook.
Since then, WhatsApp has issued two clarifications, in an attempt to assuage privacy concerns of users. On January 10, the messaging platform said that its latest update describes business communication and does not change its data-sharing practices with Facebook. Again on January 15, it said that the new policy does not affect the privacy of users’ messages with their friends and family.
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