Published 13:36 IST, January 12th 2021
WhatsApp's clarification on privacy policy fails to convince; netizens poke holes in claim
WhatsApp's clarification did not go down well with a number of users and they continued to cast aspersions on the privacy policy of the app.
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After receiving several questions from users and in the midst of somewhat of an app-migration, WhatsApp has issued a clarification regarding the ongoing confusion about its new Privacy Policy. The messenger application has said that the changes will not affect consumer accounts as it is only for business accounts. However, the clarification did not go down well with a number of users across the world and they continued to cast aspersions on the privacy policy of the app. Netizens gave their reactions on the app's clarification on Twitter.
WhatsApp's clarification says: "We want to be clear that the policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family in any way. Instead, this update includes changes related to messaging a business on WhatsApp, which is optional, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data."
The updated WhatsApp Terms and Conditions says, "As part of the Facebook Companies, WhatsApp receives information from and shares information with the other Facebook Companies. We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them, to help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services and their offerings, including the Facebook Company Products."
However, the messenger application said that the data-sharing practices with Facebook have not changed. It mentions that the changes in the policy will come into effect from next month that is February 8, 2021, and the data sharing will happen between Facebook Business and WhatsApp Business accounts. People who use this medium for instant messaging and not for business purposes will remain unaffected.
The new WhatsApp Privacy Policy will go into effect from next month and users (iOS and Android) have also started getting notifications. But, if you do not choose to agree with WhatsApp's Terms and Conditions, you will no longer be able to use their services.
Netizens react to WhatsApp's clarification on privacy policy
My advice is to let us all in the even of Bullying by thes social media platforms remind them we make them and can break them, let us all delete our WhatsApp from, this will leave them with a shell and bankruptcy for being cocky.
— JAMAICANS GET UP! STAND UP! DON'T GIVE UP D FIGHT! (@AbiahAbiah1) January 12, 2021
Are you going to :
— 🅱ahr 🅰bdUlrazzak 👨💻 (@insyria) January 12, 2021
share my device ID, phone number, activities (calls, whom I am messaging with), location, IP addresses?
If yes, then with whom?
If not, what type of data do you share (and please explain it in plain English)
Then why do you have to "force" your users to agree and also you threat your users if they don't agree to share with Facebook ?
— andre prabowo (@stinger16wcw) January 12, 2021
At least you have to explain what will you and Facebook do with our datas in order to convince your users to agree. pic.twitter.com/Vo8YooWaEc
Yeah? And what about the fact that you will at some point start sending the users propaganda, ads and commercials and flooding the app with them exactly like you do with fcbk and IG, even tho those Ads are annoying AF, so you can later charge a premium to stop seeing them.
— Alexander (@AlexanderGTR507) January 12, 2021
OK if my speeches are protected, can you explain this to me? Last week he took two photos of shoes to my friend, and then while I was walking around Instagram, there are many models of the same shoes, that brand, and I wrote a story about that shoe on Instagram. I did not shoot. pic.twitter.com/2QCcC7D8O7
— şehr-i âzâd (@KasVegasl) January 12, 2021
13:36 IST, January 12th 2021