Messaging app WhatsApp on Friday informed that no accounts would be deleted in case of failure to accept the updated privacy policy as of May 15. The updated policy, introduced in January '21, had faced severe backlash over concerns of user data being shared with parent company Facebook.
"No accounts will be deleted on May 15 because of this update, and no one in India will lose functionality of WhatsApp either. We will follow up with reminders to people over the next several weeks," a WhatsApp spokesperson told PTI. Though the spokesperson claims that most users accepted the new terms of services, they did not reveal the number of users who accepted or the reasons for the withdrawal of their decision.
WhatsApp had first announced changes in its terms and conditions through an in-app notification and given users the deadline of February 8 to agree to the new terms. Following the backlash, this was then extended to May 15.