WhatsApp To Go Ahead With Its Privacy Policy Update; Will Provide More Information On Update To Users In a blog post, the company said that the app will remind people to review and accept these updates to continue using WhatsApp
By Debarghya Sil •
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Facebook-owned popular messaging app WhatsApp on Friday announced that it will be going ahead with its much debated privacy policy update. The company said it will allow its users to read about the update "at their own pace". The company will also add a new banner feature for its users to get additional information about the update.
In a blog post, the company said that the app will remind people to review and accept these updates to continue using WhatsApp.
"In the coming weeks, we'll display a banner in WhatsApp providing more information that people can read at their own pace. We've also included more information to try and address concerns we're hearing. Eventually, we'll start reminding people to review and accept these updates to keep using WhatsApp," the blog read
The controversy erupted when WhatsApp notified its users about the mandatory privacy policy update in the month of January, this year. After reading about the update, users feared that WhatsApp will be sharing personal data to Facebook, causing a mass exodus to other messaging platforms. WhatsApp also had to push its update from February to May 15. However, since then, WhatsApp has clarified that the privacy policy will have no impact on the personal chats or profile data of a user but is related to business using the service for customer service purposes.
The company noted some users have looked for an alternate mode of messaging. Commenting on its competitors, the company said, "We've seen some of our competitors try to get away with claiming they can't see people's messages - if an app doesn't offer end-to-end encryption by default that means they can read your messages."
During the controversy, messaging apps such as Telegram and Signal saw a significant rise in their download numbers as they were considered more secure. At one point, Signal saw a 4,200 per cent rise in download numbers.
