After the recent backlash in January, WhatsApp is trying again to get users to agree to its new privacy terms. Back in January the terms agreement was seen as an ultimatum, and indicated users would not be able to use the service unless agreeing with the popup sent to them. Many users decided to leave WhatsApp in favour of other similar services, giving them unexpected boost in user numbers.
It seems WhatsApp is going to try again with the privacy update, but this time it says users will have a short time to agree before the users can no longer read or send from the app. Users accounts will then be treated as inactive user accounts which will apply after May 15. Inactive accounts have a 120-days before the accounts are generally deleted.
Part of the fuss stems from a change to the policy of messages sent to Business accounts, but users were concerned about the sharing of data with Facebook. It already shares some details with FB, but it's now highlighted this to users and has resulted in this exodus.
It'll certainly be interesting to see the result of this after May 15, 2021.
[
techcrunch.com...]
Note, the rules are different in Europe, however, users have become more privacy conscious, and it could still encourage users to take a negative view and move away.
