Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

WHATSAPP SCRAPS MAY 15 DEADLINE FOR ACCEPTING PRIVACY POLICY

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NEW DELHI: Whatsapp has scrapped its May 15 deadline for users to accept its controvers­ial privacy policy update and said not accepting the terms will not lead to deletion of accounts, after the Facebook-owned app faced severe backlash over concerns that data was being shared with the parent company.

A Whatsapp spokespers­on told PTI that no accounts will be deleted on May 15 for not accepting the policy update.

“No accounts will be deleted on May 15 because of this update and no one in India will lose functional­ity of Whatsapp either. We will follow up with reminders to people over the next several weeks,” the spokespers­on said on Friday.

The spokespers­on added that while a “majority of users who have received the new terms of service have accepted them”, some people have not had the chance to do so yet.

However, the company did not clarify the reason behind the decision and did not divulge the number of users who have accepted the terms so far.

In January this year, Whatsapp had informed users about the changes in its terms of service and public policy through an in-app notificati­on. Users were initially given time till February 8 to agree to the new terms in order to continue using the platform.

According to Whatsapp, the key updates include more informatio­n about its service and how it processes user data; how businesses can use Facebook hosted services to store and manage their Whatsapp chats; and how Whatsapp partners with Facebook to offer integratio­ns across the company products.

Whatsapp has insisted that

the acceptance of the privacy policy update does not expand its ability to share user data with Facebook. However, user backlash over Whatsapp’s alleged sharing of user informatio­n with

Facebook forced the company to postpone the February deadline to May 15.

The Whatsapp spokespers­on said the company has spent the last few months working to “clear up confusion and misinforma­tion”. “As a reminder, this update does not impact the privacy of personal messages for anyone. Our goal is to provide informatio­n about new options we are building that people will have, to message a business on Whatsapp, in the future,” the spokespers­on said.

The softening of stance on the deadline comes at a time when digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp have become lifelines for people looking for oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, plasma donors and ventilator­s as the country reels under the deadly second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

India is the biggest market for Whatsapp, and the platform -as per government data -- has 530 million users in the country. India remains a critical market for internet companies like Facebook with its large population base and burgeoning internet adoption. The country is the world’s second-largest telecom market and the biggest consumer of data.

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