WhatsApp updates Terms of Service: Accept it or your Account will be Deleted
The Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp had announced earlier this month that it was about to change its Terms of Service and its privacy policy for its users. It had further added that users had only two distinct choices- either accept the new policy or leave the platform. The company had sent a notification to both its Android and iOS users saying that “WhatsApp is updating its terms and privacy policy”. The notification also included the app’s major updates, such as how the company processes user data, how businesses can use Facebook hosted services to store and manage their WhatsApp chats, and how the company partners with Facebook, it’s a parent company, to offer integrations across the Facebook Company Product.
The company had said that its new terms and privacy policy will come into effect on February 8, 2021. It also said that users will have to accept these terms and changes to keep using their WhatsApp accounts after February 8. Taking you into the details of the app, the company also updated its website that gives people detailed information about the changes that are to be implemented. The company clarified that “When a user forwards media within a message, we store that media temporarily in encrypted form on our servers to aid in the more efficient delivery of additional forwards”. It said that this section was previously missing in its last updated edition of December 2019.
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Clarifying about a user’s connections, the company said that “If any of your contacts aren’t yet using our Services, we’ll manage this information for you in a way that ensures those contacts cannot be identified by us”. WhatsApp had also added a different section namely Transactions And Payments Data.’ It means that if you use the company’s payments services, or use services meant for purchases or other financial transactions, then the company we process additional information about you, including payment account and transaction information. These are the information required to complete the transaction.
The company also said that if users use their payment services available in their country or territory, their privacy practices are described in the applicable payments privacy policy. This information includes hardware model, operating system information, battery level, signal strength, app version, browser information, mobile network, connection information (including phone number, mobile operator or ISP), language and time zone, IP address, device operations information, and identifiers.
WhatsApp said that it collects and uses precise location information from the user's device with their permissions when they choose to use location-related features such as when they decide to share their location with their contacts or view locations nearby or locations that others share with them. In a separate section named ‘How We Work With Other Facebook Companies’ that was earlier known as the ‘Affiliated Companies’, WhatsApp shared in detail how the collaboration works and affects its day-to-day workings. This shows a significant change in the way Facebook functions and works with its other companies. Earlier they were individual entities and now have become a part of the company’s family of apps.
