We reported on Friday that WhatsApp had given up on its May 15 deadline, which required users to accept the new privacy policy from the Facebook-owned company, failing which would result in termination of the user’s account. This did not go well with users and the public in general, with the application getting a lot of negative coverage, with most critics less than happy with what was being done. To combat this, WhatsApp printed out page long adverts to state that the user’s privacy was not going to be impacted. As mentioned above, a report from PTI had confirmed the news, stating that WhatsApp had scrapped its May 15 deadline, which went down well with users, who were reassured that their accounts would not be deleted if they refused to accept the policies. It seems that this news was not quite correct, since today the company reinsured users that it would not be deactivating the accounts of those who choose to refuse the new policies, but it will be limiting the features. Constant reminders for the new privacy policy will also be sent out.
WhatsApp To Limit Functionality For Those Refusing New Policy
A spokesperson for WhatsApp told Android Central that users who have not accepted the new privacy policy would be subject to an account with limited functionality. These users will not be able to access their chat list, but they will be allowed to answer voice or video calls. Furthermore, they will also be allowed to call back a missed video call or voice call, with notifications still continuing to arrive, with users being allowed to read messages and respond to the same. Do not get your hopes up, though, since the spokesperson also mentioned that WhatsApp would eventually bar users from receiving notifications or incoming calls, thus cutting off their services to the application. This seems to be in a bid to give users more time to accept this new policy, but it also forces one to do so to continue using the application, so it is technically not better than what was originally proposed. The company is still trying to create awareness amongst users in a bid to get them to sign up for the same via status updates and reminders on top of the chat list, with the company clarifying that these changes are for chats with business accounts.
