Updated on May 31, 2021: If you haven’t agreed to its new privacy policy, WhatsApp now says it won’t restrict your app’s functions, although the app will prompt you from time to time to agree to the new privacy policy. If you’ve already accepted the new privacy update, you cannot rescind it.
When WhatsApp gave users an ultimatum to either accept an updated privacy policy or stop using their app earlier this year, it received so much backlash that Facebook pushed the initial deadline by three months to try to stem the exodus from the app.
The update to WhatsApp’s privacy policy, which will allow Facebook to see users’ messages with businesses, is finally coming into effect this week on May 15. And while it won’t be completely unusable to users who don’t accept the policy, WhatsApp will make the app more inconvenient for them.
The update does not affect your personal messages
The initial announcement of the policy update gave the impression to many that WhatsApp (and therefore Facebook) would be able to see your personal messages. This triggered a huge surge in downloads of Signal and Telegram on both Android and iOS devices, and even “technoking” Elon Musk got his two cents in, tweeting “Use Signal” to his followers soon after WhatsApp’s announcement.
Since then, WhatsApp has clarified its privacy policy, saying the update “is not changing the privacy of your personal messages,” keeping them end-to-end encrypted. It will however start collecting information from your messages to businesses, which will be stored on Facebook’s servers and possibly used for advertising. This isn’t necessarily news, since WhatsApp has already been sharing user data like phone numbers with Facebook since 2016.
Read more: Facebook’s biggest data breaches
What happens if you don’t accept the update?
For those who don’t hit “accept,” WhatsApp will start sending persistent reminders to agree to the new privacy policy. WhatsApp also previously said it would limit the functions of the app, including making calls and sending messages—and ultimately deleting the user’s account after 120 days—but the company more recently changed course and said it will not be restricting functionality.
Should you still use WhatsApp?
Unlike Messenger and Instagram, WhatsApp is still safe to use for personal messages, which are end-to-end encrypted. If you don’t want your messages with business being collected by Facebook, you will probably need to find an alternative way to communicate with them, like by email.
Read next: The best messaging apps for privacy and security in 2021
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Comments
Good article. I abandoned FB and whatsApp a long time ago. I don’t miss FB, I do miss whatsApp. But I don’t trust anything Marky does.
I switched to Telegram as soon as I heard that WhatsApp sold out to the Big Brother. I don’t care what Facebook says, I don’t believe that sugar-coated scumbag, don’t trust him and despise Facebook and their underhanded, corrupt policies.
i think facebook is run communists. straight up! facebook is one gigantic breach. i dont know if they own whats app or not or whats going on their. whatsapp clearly doing it right! let me put it this way whatsapp doesnt vauluntarily give out its users info. oh you actually believe this bs about facebook being breached? thats just cause your a big dummy. this been going on for years! when i first joined facebook my shit was secure.. all of the sudden your gmail is visible to all who cares to see it, i never gave my email to companies that i started getting emails from. let me put it to you this way! facebook is the reason you ended up with 100,000 emails in your in box lmmfao!!!! face book will sell you out DRY! pesonally i dont have a business account on whatsapp ! facebook. i hate you with a passion!!! yall take care! PEACE…..
Im sure they are reading emails too.
je suis déçu de l’application VPN ça n’a pas empecher face book de me bloquer 30 jours alors que sois disant votre application masque l’adresse …..je désire me déshabonner !
A service can block your account, no matter your IP address.
I like this article, Jamie, but i would love to know WhatsApp’s/Facebook’s definition of a personal/business account. I can’t remember from when I set up my account, do they ask you if you want a personal or business account or are there criteria they apply to make it one or the other, either at the time of registration or retrospectively? I am currently living in a country where everyone uses WhatsApp, even government departments – are those liable to be deemed ‘business’?
Hi Gary,
WhatsApp Business is a separate app from WhatsApp itself that allows businesses to set up a business account. The app icon for WhatsApp business will have a ‘B’ inside the speech bubble.
To find out if you’re talking to a business, check their profile to see if they’ve been labeled as an “Official business account.” The profile will also have a green checkmark badge in its profile and next to the header in the chat thread.