WhatsApp Updates – Users Must Agree on New Privacy Policy to Continue Using the App

Facebook-owned instant messaging app WhatsApp is expected to update its usage policies on February 8, 2020. WhatsApp holds the biggest slice of the IM pie by having a market share of almost 61%.

Yes or Yes?

It is normal for apps to update their usage policies to adhere to policies and the changing business landscape. It has been reported that the users will be given only two options, to either accept the policies or to lose access to the application’s services. This is something that is a bit uncommon in the tech world right now.

Users can visit the ‘Help Center’ to learn more about the updated policies. The key updates include:

1. Changes in how WhatsApp processes user data
2. How businesses can use Facebook-hosted services to store and manage their WhatsApp chats
3. How WhatsApp partners with Facebook to offer integrations across ‘Facebook Company Products’

These updates would be applicable for both the Android and iOS versions of the app. With this updated policy WhatsApp lists out in detail how it shares information with Facebook, something that was not available earlier.

WhatsApp now makes it clear that it shares information with “third-party service providers and other Facebook Companies in this capacity…”  It further goes on explaining third-party services integrated within WhatsApp. The previous policy just had mentions of iCloud or Google Drive, which are commonly used by many apps to backup and save messages.

New feature

It is also believed that a new feature will be launched soon, which would allow the company to interact with users from within the app. The communication may not be in the form of a chat, but would most likely be a popup. This popup would then redirect users to the website where they read about the notification in detail.

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