WhatsApp issued a privacy policy that will go into effect on May 15, 2021. Those who have not agreed to the policy will slowly have portions of the functionality of WhatsApp become inaccessible.
To me, it sounds like WhatsApp (and its parent company, Facebook) are using this tactic to pressure users into accepting the privacy policy.This could backfire if people choose leave WhatsApp in favor of similar apps like Signal and Telegram.
For the last several weeks we’ve displayed a notification in WhatsApp providing more information about the update. After giving everyone time to review, we’re continuing to remind those who haven’t had the chance to do so to review and accept. After a period of several weeks, the reminder people receive will eventually become persistent.
A post on the WhatsApp website explains what will happen to users who don’t accept the privacy policy on May 15, 2021:
No one will have their account deleted or lose functionality of WhatsApp on May 15th because of this update.
After receiving a persistent reminder, users will encounter limited functionality on WhatsApp until you accept the updates. It appears this will not happen to all users at the same time,
Here is what non-complying users will experience:
- 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.
In short, if you want to continue using WhatsApp – and have access to all of its functionality – you have no choice other than to accept the privacy policy. This is not a good look for WhatsApp (or Facebook). I understand that WhatsApp and Facebook have a right to create privacy policies. I think they should have handled this situation in a kinder, more ethical, way.