WhatsApp has announced, in its new privacy policy update, that it will be getting new rules that users must assent to. Users have been told to accept the terms and service of this new policy by February 8, 2021, or lose their accounts. This privacy policy change has spread fear among the people who use the messaging app and sparked an exodus to apps such as Telegram and Signal.
The new policy update talks about data sharing with parent company Facebook but gives insufficient details to users, and this given rise to a lot of misinformation. While WhatsApp has long prided itself on its commitment to end-to-end encrypted conversations, the new announcement has created doubts in the minds of users. The app’s users fear that their security and privacy will not be respected but instead, their activities on the app will be shared with Facebook.
In a statement announcing the new policy, WhatssApp said, “As part of the Facebook family of companies, WhatsApp receives information from, and shares information with, this family of companies. We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them, to help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services and their offerings.”
However, WhatsApp insists that there will be no changes to the use of data for their European users, even if they accept the terms of the new policy. In a Twitter thread, WhatsApp’s Director of public policy in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Niamh Sweeny, shared that, “It remains the case that WhatsApp does not share European Region WhatsApp user data with Facebook for the purpose of Facebook using this data to improve its products or ads.”
Evidently, except for European users, the rest of us are left with two choices: to either assent to the new policy and stick to WhatsApp, or switch to other apps.
