Last month, WhatsApp announced an update to its terms of service and privacy policy. The announcement was accompanied with an in-app notification, which asked users to read the new terms and agree to the policies by 8 February 2021. The agreement was crucial for users to be able to continue using the app. However, the update was widely criticised, which seemed to suggest changes to the data the platform would share with its parent company Facebook. Following this, WhatsApp extended the deadline to accept the terms till 15 May.
Now, WhatsApp has shared updated plans for how it will ask its users to review the terms of service and privacy policy. WhatsApp says that, similar to Snapchat, it will use its Status feature to share updates directly within the platform.
Additionally, users will soon see a banner in WhatsApp, which will provide more information that users can read "at their own pace". WhatsApp says that the banner will include more information that will concerns that have been raised since the announcement of the policy update. "Eventually, we’ll start reminding people to review and accept these updates to keep using WhatsApp," the blog post added.
Further, WhatsApp says that it also wants to let people know how it provides the messaging platform to users for free. "Every day millions of people start a WhatsApp chat with a business because it’s easier to do so than placing a phone call or exchanging emails. We charge businesses to provide customer service on WhatsApp - not people. Some shopping features involve Facebook so that businesses can manage their inventory across apps. We display more information directly in WhatsApp so people can choose if they want to engage with businesses, or not."
In the blog post, WhatsApp also takes a jab at its competitors who claim they don't read data on their app, or claim they "know even less information than WhatsApp".
Last week, the Supreme Court asked the Centre and WhatsApp to reply to a fresh plea alleging lower standards of privacy for Indians in comparison to European users saying it is the "duty of the judiciary to protect citizens'' privacy. People have grave apprehensions that they will lose their privacy and it is our duty to protect them, the top court said. "You may be two or three trillion dollar companies but people value their privacy more than money," a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde told WhatsApp even as it sought to argue that Europe has special data protection laws which India doesn''t.
The apex court issued notice to the government and the Facebook-owned app on an interim application filed by Karmanya Singh Sareen in a pending petition of 2017.
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