Science & Technology

WhatsApp delays privacy policy update due to ‘confusion’

New York City, Jan 15 (efe-epa).- The messaging application WhatsApp on Friday said it would delay the deadline to accept the terms of its new privacy policy in order to clarify the “confusion” of the public surrounding the use of data and its new options focused on selling products.

The update of the privacy policy, scheduled for Feb. 8, has raised concerns about what user data will be collected and whether its parent company Facebook will be able to access personal information such as contacts or conversations held on WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app in the world.

It has also triggered doubts about whether by rejecting the new conditions, users would lose their accounts.

“We’re now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms. No one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8,” the company said in a statement on its blog Friday.

“We’re also going to do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsApp,” the company said.

Facebook and its popular messaging subsidiary have denied that with the new rules they will be able to access message or call content, as well as contact lists or groups and locations.

WhatsApp said that the update “does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook” and said it would let people “review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.”

Various media have reported that the new privacy terms will include a more open wording, which has invited speculation that Facebook will be able to access WhatsApp data, while the company has insisted that the update responds to a greater role and functionality to communicate with businesses.

“Although people do not use WhatsApp to buy from businesses today, we believe that more people will choose to do so in the future and it is important that the world is aware of these services,” the statement said.

The messaging application, with some 2 billion users, no doubt fears a massive exodus to Telegram and Signal, which have positioned themselves as the most secure when it comes to preventing the collection and use of their users’ metadata. WhatsApp also offers end-to-end message encryption. EFE-EPA

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