WhatsApp, the world's most popular messaging application, postponed a new privacy policy in January after severe criticism from users. Still, now WhatsApp says it will continue to pursue the same policy.
According to a report by the British news agency 'Reuters,' WhatsApp has said that it allows users to read the new privacy policy independently and will also display a banner to provide additional information.
WhatsApp has been sending notifications to users since January 4 to accept the new privacy policy. The policy was announced to take effect on February 8, 2021, and users were warned that they must accept it or their accounts will be deleted.
The new privacy policy will increase the company's authority over user data and allow businesses to store and manage WhatsApp chats using Facebook's services. Facebook will be able to connect WhatsApp to its other services. WhatsApp management later clarified that it would not sell or access users' data.
However, WhatsApp's policy was heavily criticized by users worldwide, and its rival apps, Telegram and Signal, also saw a huge increase in the number of users. The company then postponed its decision to delete the accounts on January 16, asking the public to reconsider the policy.
The management of the messaging app later launched a series of statuses to mitigate the criticism. On the morning of January 28, people around the world saw the official status of WhatsApp on their accounts.
In a recent blog post, WhatsApp said it would start reminding users to review and accept updates to continue using the messaging platform. WhatsApp added: “We've added more information to address these concerns and to address them.”
The messaging app said that a banner will be added to WhatsApp in the coming weeks, which will provide users with more information about the privacy policy that they can read on their own.
WhatsApp's announcement comes when its parent company Facebook has banned Australian news outlets from sharing content on social media, which has also drawn criticism.