Facebook-owned WhatsApp announced earlier this month that users would lose functionality over time if they didn’t accept its new privacy policy by May 15th.
In a reversal, Facebook now says that plan has changed, and users who don’t accept the updated policy actually won’t see limited functionality.
“Given recent discussions with various authorities and privacy experts, we want to make clear that we will not limit the functionality of how WhatsApp works for those who have not yet accepted the update,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said in a statement.
The rollout of the policy has been confusing and raised concerns that WhatsApp would begin sharing more of users’ personal data with Facebook. WhatsApp has stressed this is not the case, though — the policy update is regarding messages sent to businesses via WhatsApp, which may be stored on Facebook’s servers.
The majority of users who have seen the new policy have accepted, the company says in a support article. This article also notes that you’ll get reminded about the new policy if you haven’t accepted it, and that’s still the case now, WhatsApp said in its statement.
“We will continue to remind users from time to time and let them accept the update, including when they choose to use relevant optional features like communicating with a business that is receiving support from Facebook,” WhatsApp said. “We hope this approach reinforces the choice that all users have whether or not they want to interact with a business.”
