Messenger WhatsApp has announced the postponement of its privacy policy update until May 2021. The company explains this by the massive dissatisfaction of users with the new rules. The messenger reports on this in its blog.
WhatsApp also explained that at the moment a lot of unreliable information about the new messenger policy has appeared on the Internet.
Recall that on January 8, WhatsApp added a clause to the user agreement, according to which the personal data of messenger users will be transferred to Facebook. In particular, phone numbers, transactions and IP addresses will be collected. It was proposed to confirm the new agreement by 8 February.
“We decided to extend the period for consideration and acceptance of our new terms by users. We do not intend to block or delete anyone’s accounts on February 8, ”WhatsApp said.
The company also intends to eliminate “misinformation” about the principles of confidentiality and security of communication in WhatsApp by May. After that, the messenger will gradually start inviting users to read the new policy again.
Will Cathcart, the head of the messenger, recently reacted to the discussion around the new WhatsApp policy . He recalled that messages and calls in WhatsApp are protected by end-to-end encryption, and the new rules do not change this. Accordingly, neither WhatsApp nor Facebook will be able to read private chats and listen to users’ calls.
Within a week after the announcement of the new rules, WhatsApp downloads in Apple and Google stores dropped 17%, according to SensorTower, The Wall Street Journal reported .
At the same time, the situation around WhatsApp had a positive effect on the growth of the number of Telegram users. At the beginning of 2021, the monthly number of active users of Pavel Durov ‘s messenger exceeded 500 million people.
Also, WhatsApp users switch to the Signal messenger. According to The Verge, the latter was funded by ex-WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton. Acton has previously publicly criticized WhatsApp’s privacy policy.