WhatsApp had an intense reaction earlier this year after updating its privacy policy that talks about sharing data with Facebook, essentially asking users to accept and continue using the service, or risk losing their account to discard the changes. After widespread criticism and debate on privacy issues, the company has postponed the implementation of its new policy until May 15 and has since tried to educate and convince users about the changes. WhatsApp has now explained what will happen to your account if you do not accept the updated privacy policies after the May 15 deadline.
If you don’t click the ‘Accept’ button in time …
You will not be able to send messages or read received texts
If you do not accept the new privacy policies after May 15, you will lose some important features. Which ones exactly? “For a short time, you will be able to receive calls and notifications, but you will not be able to read or send messages from the app,” says the company on a new FAQ page titled What happens on the effective date?
You will lose important functions and risk deleting your account
As for the ‘short time frame’ in the sinister WhatsApp ad, it will last for a few weeks (via TechCrunch) WhatsApp reportedly started sending out a statement detailing the changes mentioned to its business partners, which are apparently business accounts that use the platform for commerce and pay a fee in exchange for the company owned by Facebook.
What are your options?
So, you now have two options:
- You give and accept the new privacy policies.
- Download your chat history and delete your WhatsApp account.
You can still accept the policy change after the May 15 deadline
Now, WhatsApp says you can still accept its new privacy policies after May 15 and return to using the full-featured app. However, when the term expires and you do not click on the ‘ACCEPT’ button, your account will be classified as inactive. Inactive accounts are automatically deleted after 120 days. Here is what WhatsApp classifies as inactivity on its official FAQ page:
| An Internet connection is required for an account to be activated. If a user has WhatsApp open on their device, but does not have an Internet connection, the account will be inactive. |
Therefore, you essentially have 120 days to think and accept (or reject) WhatsApp’s updated privacy policies. However, each day after May 15, you will have to live with limited functionality (read: Not being able to send or read messages) if you have not accepted the new rules.
What if you delete your WhatsApp account?
Or you can download your chat history and say goodbye to WhatsApp. However, the company says that if you delete your account, you will be expelled from all groups and all your chat history and backups will be permanently deleted. “It is something that we cannot reverse,” WhatsApp says.
Alternatively, you can migrate your data from WhatsApp to the Telegram that the latter offers. You can move your WhatsApp chat – including media and documents – from personal or group chats with a new chat export feature on Telegram.
