WhatsApp Inc. on Friday delayed plan of its controversial new privacy policy for the second time in nearly four months without specifying any deadline.
The update will allow additional sharing of information from WhatsApp with Facebook as well as other applications such as Instagram and Messenger. The information will include contacts and profile data, but not the content of messages which remain encrypted.
In addition, the platform had mentioned that the update was mainly aimed at merchants who use WhatsApp to chat with customers, allowing them to share data with Facebook.
Nonetheless, critics feared it could open the door to broader data sharing with Facebook with potential implications for user privacy.
WhatsApp revealed on its website that it would not immediately cut off users who don’t accept the new terms, but it would send reminders to those who don’t opt-in.
"No one will have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of WhatsApp on May 15th because of this update," according to the latest website update, which was seen earlier by The Verge and other media outlets.
However, users will get "persistent" reminders about the policy and may lose some functionality if they fail to accept the new terms.
"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," the web page said. "After a period of several weeks, the reminder people receive will eventually become persistent."
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