WhatsApp delays update, no account to be deleted on February 8

Facing massive backlash over its new privacy policy update, Facebook-owned Whatsapp has postponed the implementation of the proposed change.

Asianet Newsable English

New Delhi, First Published Jan 16, 2021, 8:38 AM IST | Last Updated Jan 16, 2021, 8:38 AM IST

In a blog post, WhatsApp said, "We have heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update. There's been a lot of misinformation causing concern and we want to help everyone understand our principles and the facts."

"WhatsApp was built on a simple idea: what you share with your friends and family stays between you. This means we will always protect your personal conversations with end-to-end encryption so that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can see these private messages. It's why we don't keep logs of who everyone's messaging or calling. We also can't see your shared location and we don’t share your contacts with Facebook."

"With these updates, none of that is changing. Instead, the update includes new options people will have to message a business on WhatsApp, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data. While not everyone shops with a business on WhatsApp today, we think that more people will choose to do so in the future and it’s important people are aware of these services. This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook."

"We are now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms. 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 will then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15."

"WhatsApp helped bring end-to-end encryption to people across the world and we are committed to defending this security technology now and in the future. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to us and to so many who have helped spread facts and stop rumours. We will continue to put everything we have into making WhatsApp the best way to communicate privately."

The WhatsApp announcement comes a day after media reports suggested that the Indian government has started examining the controversy surrounding the new update.

California-based WhatsApp had on January 4 stated that it reserved the right to share some data including location and phone number with Facebook and its units such as Instagram and Messenger. That had triggered outrage among users, especially in India where WhatsApp has 400 million users.

Amid outrage both on social media and off it, the messaging app was forced to go in for an advertising blitz in both 10 English and Hindi newspapers In the advertisement, WhatsApp said its privacy policy update "does not affect the privacy of your messages with your friends and family in any way".

A petition was filed in the Delhi High Court, which claimed that WhatsApp had "made a mockery out of our fundamental right to privacy while discharging a public function in India, besides jeopardizing the National Security of the country by sharing, transmitting and storing the users' data in some another country and that data, in turn, will be governed by the laws of that foreign country."

And with the leak of Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami's end-to-end encrypted chats, WhatsApp's credibility has taken another massive beating.

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