WhatsApp has announced it will give users more time to agree to its controversial new privacy policy, claiming mass “confusion” and “misinformation” about the update. The Facebook-owned messaging app now says that it will allow users to “review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.”
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Updating the message the company wrote, “We’ve heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update. There’s been a lot of misinformation causing concern and we want to help everyone understand our principles and the facts. This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook.”
WhatsApp’s move to delay the new policy follows the company’s sudden decision to introduced privacy changes earlier this month with a pop-up warning that users will accept the new policy by February 8, or lose access to the service.
The policy update address WhatsApp recent focus on business messaging, a feature that’s widely used in many countries outside the US. But the popup warning scared many users, who described the changes as Facebook being too difficult to deal with.
WhatsApp is now going back to some of its previous messaging, “We’re now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms,” the company says. “No one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8. We’ll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.”
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It’s not immediately clear if the announcement of delaying the policy can undo the damage that has been done already as encrypted messaging app Signal and Telegram has seen waves of new downloads since WhatsApp released the news.
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