With the advent of its latest privacy policy, the Facebook-owned messaging app is all set to block certain features if the users won't agree to the new privacy policy.
The update that was initially set to be rolled out by February 8 – making new privacy regulations applicable for all its users, got delayed till May 15 as WhatsApp faced strong contempt from the public, which allowed its competitors namely Telegram and Signal to solidify their repute with the public.
Earlier, as per the ultimatum given by WhatsApp: if the users do not accept the updated privacy policy on May 15, they won't be able to use the app. However, later on, it was said that no accounts will be deleted in case the aforementioned does not happen.
Giving insights into the new Privacy Policy, a WhatsApp spokesperson said, “Requiring messaging apps to “trace” chats is the equivalent of asking us to keep a fingerprint of every single message sent on WhatsApp, which would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermines people’s right to privacy.”
“We have consistently joined civil society and experts around the world in opposing requirements that would violate the privacy of our users. In the meantime, we will also continue to engage with the Government of India on practical solutions aimed at keeping people safe, including responding to valid legal requests for the information available to us,” the Spokesperson added.
WhatsApp told that it is not imposing its new policy on the users and that they are free to not do so. However, it might involve users deleting their WhatsApp account on their own as the other option than to accept the 2021 update, because they won't be able to access their chat lists or call their contacts via WhatsApp.
As per WhatsApp's statements, we can deduce that whenever users will access the app, they will be constantly reminded to accept the updated privacy policy to access all its features – eventually making the platform more or less unserviceable to them.
The users who do accept the updated privacy policy won't witness any key changes in their experience, however, those who continue to have the app installed on their device without accepting the new policy might eventually end up saying goodbye to the app due to its limited serviceability or “inactivity”.
