WhatsApp delays privacy changes by three months

WhatsApp announced on Saturday that it has delayed the implementation of its new privacy policy and terms of service until May 15.
“Thank you to everyone who’s reached out. We're still working to counter any confusion by communicating directly with @WhatsApp users. No one will have their account suspended or deleted on Feb 8 and we’ll be moving back our business plans until after May,” the company tweeted around 1.15 am, while sharing a blogpost on the microblogging platform.
The company also said it would instead "go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.”
On January 6, the instant messaging platform had announced that it was making it mandatory for users to share their data with its parent company, Facebook. The company had not given an option to users to opt out of the changes and had said people would lose access by February 8, if they did not accept the new terms. The move, digital experts had said, was a blow to privacy as it maximised data collection.
Reacting to WhatsApp's new post, cyber security expert Jiten Jain pointed out that privacy concerns around the update still exist since WhatsApp has not rolled back the policy. “They have just delayed the new policy by a couple of months. It's only a tactic to escape public anger and stop the mass exodus of people to other platforms,” said Jain.
The blog post said there had been a “lot of misinformation causing concern (around the new policy) and we want to help everyone understand our principles and the facts.” The statement further said that WhatsApp would continue to protect users through end-to-end encryption, a method which doesn’t allow the company to read content of people’s messages.
“It’s why we don’t keep logs of who everyone’s messaging or calling. We also can’t see your shared location and we don’t share your contacts with Facebook. With these updates, none of that is changing,” the company wrote, adding that “This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook.”
In another tweet, the company added, it “never planned to delete any accounts based on this and will not do so in the future.”
“Moving forward, the integration between Facebook and WhatsApp will only continue to increase, and users will need to decide what level of information sharing they’re comfortable with and which messaging applications they prefer,” said cyber firm Kaspersky senior researcher Anna Larkina.