Since the announcement that WhatsApp was changing their privacy policy and sharing more data with Facebook, there’s been quite the buzz. This has resulted in a lot of concern about user privacy and a fairly significant exodus of users to platforms like Telegram and Signal. For users who are sticking with WhatsApp, the deadline is approaching to accept the new privacy policy or risk losing functionality.
So what’s happening for users who don’t accept the updated policy?
WhatsApp has provided a clear guide on what to expect for users who don’t accept and clarifications on some speculated points. First off, if you don’t accept the policy they won’t delete your account. You will still be able to export your chat history on both Android and iOS, but there will be an impact on your use.
- You won’t be able to access your chat list, but you can still answer incoming phone and video calls. If you have notifications enabled, you can tap on them to read or respond to a message or call back a missed phone or video call.
- After a few weeks of limited functionality, you won’t be able to receive incoming calls or notifications and WhatsApp will stop sending messages and calls to your phone.
While they have noted that this won’t occur for all users on the deadline date of the 15th, it’s worth taking the time to read and decide if you want to accept the policy or move to another messaging option.
