WhatsApp will soon make life more difficult for users who have not accepted the update of its confidentiality rules, allowing them to transmit the phone number to Facebook.
According to an emailed letter to a partner company cited by TechCrunch, those who don’t want to comply with WhatsApp’s new privacy rules will see their app’s functionality limited and risk losing their account.
Users can ignore the privacy policy update banner until the May 15 deadline. But a few weeks after this date, they will no longer be able to read and send messages. Their WhatsApp app will only be able to receive calls and notifications.
What is more, WhatsApp reserves the right to delete the account if it is considered inactive 120 days later.
Rule change postponed due to outcry
In January 2020, WhatsApp announced plans to share more personal user data with its parent company Facebook. The messaging service offered its users to accept these rules to remain entitled to use the application after February 8, 2021.
After this announcement, many users quit WhatsApp, preferring to sign up for secure messaging services, like Telegram or Signal. Telegram then broke registration records.
In the face of the outcry, WhatsApp postponed the entry into force of the new rules until May 15.
