Technology
Will you lose WhatsApp texts if you don’t accept terms? What happens after May 15
THE deadline for accepting WhatsApp’s new privacy policies is fast approaching.
Users who don’t agree will lose a range of functions on the app until they have no choice but to download their data and leave WhatsApp forever.
WhatsApp wants you to accept its new terms by May 15[/caption]
Will my WhatsApp chats be deleted if I don’t accept the new terms?
The WhatsApp website stresses: “No one will have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of WhatsApp on May 15th because of this update.”
It also stressed that your chats and account won’t be deleted after May 15.
Users who haven’t accepted the terms already will still receive several weeks of reminder notifications when they use the app.
After this point, the reminders will become persistent and hard to ignore.
WhatsApp won’t delete your chats[/caption]
That’s when you’ll find you can barely use the app until you accept the update.
The WhatsApp website states that this won’t happen to all users at the same time.
WhatsApp says: “You won’t be able to access your chat list, but you can still answer incoming phone and video calls.
“If you have notifications enabled, you can tap on them to read or respond to a message or call back a missed phone or video call.
“After a few weeks of limited functionality, you won’t be able to receive incoming calls or notifications and WhatsApp will stop sending messages and calls to your phone.”
It goes on to give the option of exporting your chat history onto your iPhone or Android.
Users normally do something like this if they’re about to delete their account but won’t to save their old chats for the memories.
WhatsApp goes on to stress that it won’t be deleting accounts but users can delete their account themselves if they want to.
What are the new WhatsApp policies?
You may have already seen a popup like this[/caption]
A disastrous first attempt to explain its new policies saw millions of users download rival chat apps – with many deleting WhatsApp altogether.
Users now have until May 15 this year to click “Accept”, or face being locked out of their WhatsApp accounts.
The new terms are related to messaging with businesses – but were poorly explained.
Even WhatsApp admitted that they were far too confusing, and pushed back the “Accept” deadline from February to May.
The privacy of personal conversations won’t be changing.
Instead, the policy update focuses on optional business features.
Around 175million people message a WhatsApp Business account every day, and this number is growing.
So the policy change affects a huge number of users.
Even if you don’t message Business accounts, you’ll still need to accept the new terms.
There’s also an option to get “more information” on the popup that takes you directly to the WhatsApp website.
WhatsApp – a quick history
Here’s what you need to know…
- WhatsApp was created in 2009 by computer programmers Brian Acton and Jan Koum – former employees of Yahoo
- It’s one of the most popular messaging services in the world
- Koum came up with the name WhatsApp because it sounded like “what’s up”
- After a number of tweaks the app was released with a messaging component in June 2009, with 250,000 active users
- It was originally free but switched to a paid service to avoid growing too fast. Then in 2016, it became free again for all users
- Facebook bought WhatsApp Inc in February 2014 for $19.3billion (£14.64bn)
- The app is particularly popular because all messages are encrypted during transit, shutting out snoopers
- As of 2020, WhatsApp has over 2billion users globally
Most read in Phones & Gadgets
In other news, Facebook is facing backlash in the US over plans to create a version of Instagram for children under 13.
China is claiming to be a world leader in 6G technology, according to reports.
And, Vitalik Buterin has become the world’s youngest crypto billionaire after the digital currency he co-founded surged in price.
What are your thoughts on WhatsApp’s new terms? Let us know in the comments…
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