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Five days before its self-imposed deadline, WhatsApp revealed it will not purge accounts that don’t accept its new privacy policy.
The messaging service in January warned folks they had until Feb. 8 to agree to planned changes—which deal primarily with businesses using WhatsApp to send and store consumer texts. Poor communication regarding exactly what the update entails prompted backlash about how much personal data is shared with parent company Facebook. WhatsApp later delayed the rollout to May 15, giving people less than three months to accept the terms or find a new platform.
“No one will have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of WhatsApp on May 15 because of this update,” according to the firm’s FAQ page. “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,” the site said. “After a period of several weeks, the reminder people receive will eventually become persistent.”
Those who refuse consent will face limited functionality: You’ll still be able to answer incoming phone and video calls and read or respond to notifications, but can’t access your chat list. A “few weeks” later, you won’t even be able to receive calls or notifications, and WhatsApp will stop sending messages and calls to your phone.
Keep an eye out for an in-app banner emphasizing WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption, which the social network promised will remain in place after its updated privacy policy kicks in.
Whether you’re planning to cut and run or wait things out and claim squatter’s rights, it’s probably a good idea to export your chat history and download a report of your account before you’re locked out for good. And while WhatsApp promised it won’t delete your account if you don’t accept the update, keep in mind that inactive accounts are generally expunged after 120 days of inactivity, which is inevitable if you don’t comply.
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