WhatsApp delays updating privacy policy due to “confusion” | Technique

On Friday, the WhatsApp messaging app decided to delay the update of its privacy policy, scheduled for February 8th, to clarifyConfusionAbout data usage with Facebook, the parent company, and its new options focused on selling products.

The privacy policy update has raised many doubts and misinformation about whether it means Facebook accessing personal data, contacts, or conversations that take place on WhatsApp, the most used messaging app in the world.

It also raised doubts about whether by not accepting the new terms of use, the user would lose their account and the app would disappear from their phone.

“We delay the date when people will be asked to review and accept terms. No one’s account will be suspended or deleted on February 8th. We’ll also do more to clear the wrong information about how privacy and security work on WhatsAppThe company said in a statement.

Facebook and its popular messaging subsidiary have tried several times to deny that through the new rules, they would access messages or call content, as well as contact lists or groups or a shared geographic location.

In this Friday’s statement, The WhatsApp Confirmed that “This update does not extendHis ability toShare data with FacebookHe promised to explain the new usage policy without hastePrior to availability of business options on May 15th“.

Several outlets reported that the new privacy terms would include more open language, which has prompted speculation that Facebook will access data from The WhatsAppWhile the company insisted that everything responds to a greater role and functions of communicating with companies and making purchases.

“Although people are not using WhatsApp to buy from companies 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 app, which has nearly 2 billion users, fears a mass exodus to Telegram and Signal, Which has positioned itself as the most enthusiastic when it comes to avoiding the collection and use of metadata from its users, despite the fact that The WhatsApp It also encrypts conversations.

Many groups used the confusion about WhatsApp to spread misinformation about the use of private data by Facebook, which was also heavily criticized in the United States by groups of all kinds, first, for not controlling the language of white supremacist groups, and later, to block access.