February 18 (Reuters) – Facebook’s WhatsApp said on Thursday that it would proceed with its controversial privacy policy update, but would allow users to read at “their own pace” and would also display a banner with additional information.
The messaging platform introduced new terms in January, with the aim of increasing commercial transactions on the platform.
The policy update would allow the Facebook owner and its subsidiaries to collect user data, including their phone number and location, which generated a global outcry and a wave of new users for competitors Telegram and Signal, among others.
WhatsApp then moved on to postpone the launch of the new policy until May from February and sought to clarify that the update was focused on allowing users to send messages to businesses and would not affect personal conversations, which will continue to have end-to-end encryption.
In its latest blog post, WhatsApp said it will start reminding users to review and accept updates to continue using the messaging platform.
“We have also included more information to try to address the concerns we are hearing,” he added. (Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Edited by Krishna Chandra Eluri)