WhatsApp will stop working if you do not agree to its new terms and privacy policies

• WhatsApp is updating its terms of service and privacy policy on February 8, 2021.
• Users who do not agree to the new policies will not be able to use the app.
• The new policies include information about how WhatsApp manages user data and how it shares information with Facebook companies.

Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp has started sending an in-app notification to its users, informing them that it is updating its terms and privacy policy, asking users to agree to the new policy.

WhatsApp’s new terms and privacy policy will come into effect from February 8, 2021, and users who wish to use the app after this date will have to agree to the new terms and privacy policies. If you do not accept these policies, you will not be able to use the app.

The notification also mentions that users who would prefer to delete their account instead of accepting the new terms can visit the help center for more information.

What are the new terms and privacy policies?

WhatsApp’s updated terms of service and privacy policies include the following updates:

• Additional information on how WhatsApp handles your data.
  
• Changes in communication with businesses.
  
• How WhatsApp shares data with Facebook and its products.
  

In its ‘Information We Collect’ section, WhatsApp has mentioned, “Our Services have optional features which, if used by you, require us to collect additional information to provide such features. You will be notified of such a collection, as appropriate. If you choose not to provide the information needed to use a feature, you will be unable to use the feature.”

It has further used the example of location sharing and location permissions to try to explain this point. It also mentions that permissions can be managed by Android and iOS users from settings.

WhatsApp will now store your messages and media

One of the updated policies also mentions that WhatsApp will now temporarily store forwarded media on its servers. “When a user forwards media within a message, we store that media temporarily in encrypted form on our servers to aid in more efficient delivery of additional forwards.”

WhatsApp has also said that it stores undelivered messages for a period of 30 days, and if the message is still undelivered, it gets deleted from its servers. “If a message cannot be delivered immediately, we keep it in encrypted form on our servers for up to 30 days as we try to deliver it. If a message is still undelivered after 30 days, we delete it."

WhatsApp will now share data with Facebook and its affiliated companies

WhatsApp has added a new section that mentions how it works with other Facebook companies and how it shares data with them to ‘help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services and their offerings’.

The information that WhatsApp shares with other Facebook companies includes:

• Your account registration information.
  
• Transaction data.
  
• Information on how you interact with others.
  
• Mobile device information.
  
• Your IP address.
  

WhatsApp will stop identifying contacts that are not using the app

As part of its new policies, the app will soon stop identifying your contacts that currently do not use its app. “If any of your contacts aren’t yet using our Services, we’ll manage this information for you in a way that ensures those contacts cannot be identified by us.”

If you do not agree with WhatsApp’s new terms and privacy policies, you will not be able to use the app after February 8, 2021.

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