14 DAY TRIAL // WhatsApp plans to enforce its new privacy policy on May 15, following a 3-month delay coming after the public backlash that caused an en-masse migration to rival platforms, and as the date approaches, the company published more information on what exactly happens if users don’t accept the new terms.
More specifically, WhatsApp says that no account would be deleted, but instead, sending and receiving messages would no longer be possible.
“To give you enough time to review changes at your own pace and convenience, we’ve extended the effective date to May 15th. If you haven’t accepted by then, WhatsApp will not delete your account. However, you won't have full functionality of WhatsApp until you accept. For a short time, you'll be able to receive calls and notifications, but won't be able to read or send messages from the app,” the company explains.
If you still don’t agree with the new privacy policy and don’t want to accept it by May 15 or after this date, WhatsApp says you can still export the chat history before this deadline.
Mostly aimed at businesses
But keep in mind that even if you don’t accept the policy update by May 15, you can still do it at a later time and continue using WhatsApp normally without any limitations whatsoever.
“Before May 15th, you can export your chat history on Android or iPhone, and download a report of your account. If you’d like to delete your account on Android, iPhone, or KaiOS, we hope you reconsider. It is something we cannot reverse as it erases your message history, removes you from all of your WhatsApp groups, and deletes your WhatsApp backups,” the company says.
WhatsApp has previously said that its new privacy policy concerns mostly businesses, explaining that no changes regarding data collection and sharing for consumers would be implemented.