New Delhi: WhatsApp’s new privacy policy has been a topic of concern for the people since its announcement. Now with the May 15 deadline coming closer, there is a huge ambiguity around the privacy policy and new terms of service. The users are still very much in the dark when it comes to the whole WhatsApp gimmick and there’s no one else to blame for that other than the company themselves.
Just last Sunday, WhatsApp had clarified the doubts of the users that they will not lose their accounts even if they don’t accept the policy. But the recent reports have stated that the users will not be able to use some important features if they don’t accept the policy.
As reported by Gizmodo, WhatsApp has updated on their FAQ page that the users will not lose access to their accounts but they won’t be able to use the full functionality until they accept the new privacy policy. The FAQ page states, “For the last several weeks we’ve displayed a notification in WhatsApp providing more information about the update. After giving everyone time to review, we’re continuing to remind those who haven’t had the chance to do so to review and accept. After a period of several weeks, the reminder people receive will eventually become persistent.”
The company has also listed the features it would limit if users do not accept the new privacy policies even after persistent reminders. WhatsApp has however clarified that this will not happen to all the users at the same time.
So if some users don’t comply with the new rules of WhatsApp, the company will not let them access their chat list. But they will be able to answer incoming calls or video calls they have their notifications enabled. Users can tap on them to read or respond to a message or even call back a missed phone or video call. But, the things will change after a few weeks if they still don’t accept the new policies.
Finally, WhatsApp will do the most-dreaded thing- it will not let the users receive incoming calls or notifications while also not allowing to send messages and calls to anyone. So, while the users feel relieved to hear that the company will not delete their account, but not allowing them to receive any message or calls is equally bad. A person’s WhatsApp account is absolutely useless if they cannot call or send messages to their contact list. So, the bottom line is that WhatsApp has used a tricky way to retain their users and at the same time forcing them to accept the new privacy policy which will come out on May 15.
