WhatsApp Will Show In-App Banners to Explain New Privacy Policy

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 19 Feb 2021

WhatsApp Privacy Policy Explained

WhatsApp announced its new privacy policy for India at the beginning of this year which came under fire from Indian users. The criticism forced the company to delay the new policy until May 15th and explain it in a better manner to consumers. Now, WhatsApp is having another go and rolling out its new privacy policy for its users in India.

WhatsApp notes in its announcement that it is using the Status feature in the app to better highlight the upcoming changes to its privacy policy.

Additionally, the company will start showing a banner inside WhatsApp providing users with more details about the changes to its privacy policy. Ultimately, the company will require users to accept its new privacy policy so that they can continue using the app.

Read: What’s the Issue With WhatsApp’s New Privacy Policy?

In its announcement, WhatsApp also takes a potshot at other messaging apps like Telegram that have soared in popularity as millions of people in India flocked to it after reading WhatsApp’s new privacy policy. It highlights that without end-to-end encryption, it is always possible for someone to read the messages that you send. WhatsApp also says that some apps (e.g. Signal) might claim to collect even less data than it but then they do not offer a “reliable and safe” experience, a balance which WhatsApp is trying to strike with the decisions it makes.

From a monetization viewpoint, WhatsApp says that it charges businesses for offering customer service over its platform and not individual users. As for Facebook integration, WhatsApp shows some information from it on its own platform to offer a better end-user experience.

[Via WhatsApp]