Users Who Don’t Accept New Privacy Terms Won’t Be Able to Access Chat List or Receive Calls: WhatsApp

WhatsApp will not delete any account for not accepting its new privacy update, but users not agreeing to the controversial terms after “several weeks” will not be able to access their chat list, and eventually, will not be able to answer incoming phone or video calls over the app.

The Facebook-owned company had said users not accepting its privacy policy update by its May 15 deadline will not face deletion or lose functionality of their accounts on the said date. WhatsApp, on its website, said it is continuing to remind those who haven’t had the chance to review and accept the terms, and after a period of several weeks, “the reminder (that) people receive will eventually become persistent”.

It, however, did not divulge the timelines set for these reminders. Explaining the course of action after ‘persistent’ reminders are sent to users, WhatsApp said: At that time, you’ll encounter limited functionality on WhatsApp until you accept the updates. This will not happen to all users at the same time. 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, it said. The messaging platform said after a few weeks of limited functionality, users, who still won’t accept the terms, won’t be able to receive incoming calls or notifications and WhatsApp will stop sending messages and calls to your phone.

WhatsApp said it won’t delete the users’ accounts if they haven’t accepted the update but highlighted that its existing policy related to inactive users will apply. WhatsApp accounts are generally deleted after 120 days of inactivity, wherein inactivity refers to users not connecting to the messaging platform.

While the company did not respond to specific queries around these reminders, how long they will run and other modalities, a WhatsApp spokesperson said: We’ll continue to provide reminders to those users within WhatsApp in the weeks to come. We’ve spent the last several months providing more information about our update to users around the world.

In that time, the majority of people who have received it have accepted the update and WhatsApp continues to grow. “However, for those that have not yet had a chance to do so, their accounts will not be deleted or lose functionality on May 15, the spokesperson said.