WhatsApp announced on Friday that it would delay amending its rules on information sharing due to users’ flight towards competitors like Telegram or Signal.
“We are postponing the date when people will be asked to review and accept the new terms,” Facebook owned WhatsApp said in a blog post.
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The company canceled the February 8 deadline for users to agree to the new rules, which include sharing their information with Facebook servers. The change will be reviewed and postponed until May 15th.
The popular messaging app has come under fire for requiring its 2 billion users to accept new terms of use, allowing it to share more data with its parent company Facebook.
Users who decline will not be able to access their accounts from February 8th.
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The app fears a mass exodus to Telegram and Signal, who have made themselves the most jealous when it comes to preventing the collection and use of their users’ metadata, despite the fact that WhatsApp also encrypts conversations.
“We will delay the date when people will be asked to review and accept the terms. No one’s account will be suspended or deleted until February 8. We will also do more to clarify misinformation about how the company said in its statement that privacy and security work on WhatsApp.
On Twitter, many users were bothered to give their consent without reading the changes in detail.
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The group intends to monetize its platform by allowing advertisers to contact their customers via WhatsApp, or even sell their products directly in the app, as is already the case in India.
According to the company, data that can be shared between WhatsApp and the Facebook app ecosystem (including Instagram and Messenger) includes contacts and profile information, excluding message content.
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But new circumstances differ between the European Union and the rest of the world. The company clarified that in the case of the European Union and the United Kingdom, they will only be used to develop the functionality provided for professional WhatsAppBusiness accounts.
A spokesperson for the platform said: “WhatsApp does not share data of its European users with Facebook in order for Facebook to use this data to improve its products or ads.”
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