WhatsApp scraps May 15 deadline for accepting privacy policy terms
New Delhi: WhatsApp has scrapped its May 15 deadline for users to accept its controversial privacy policy update and said not accepting the terms will not lead to deletion of accounts.
WhatsApp had faced severe backlash over user concerns that data was being shared with parent company Facebook.
A WhatsApp spokesperson told PTI that no accounts will be deleted on May 15 for not accepting the policy update.
"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," the spokesperson said in an emailed response to a query on Friday.
The spokesperson added that while a "majority of users who have received the new terms of service have accepted them", some people have not had the chance to do so yet.
However, the company did not clarify the reason behind the decision and did not divulge the number of users who have accepted the terms so far.
In January this year, WhatsApp had informed users about the changes in its terms of service and public policy through an in-app notification. Users were initially given time till February 8 to agree to the new terms in order to continue using the platform.
According to WhatsApp, the key updates include more information about its service and how it processes user data; how businesses can use Facebook hosted services to store and manage their WhatsApp chats; and how WhatsApp partners with Facebook to offer integrations across the company products.
WhatsApp has insisted that the acceptance of the privacy policy update does not expand its ability to share user data with Facebook.
However, user backlash over WhatsApp's alleged sharing of user information with Facebook forced the company to postpone the February deadline to May 15.
The WhatsApp spokesperson said the company has spent the last few months working to "clear up confusion and misinformation".
"As a reminder, this update does not impact the privacy of personal messages for anyone. Our goal is to provide information about new options we are building that people will have, to message a business on WhatsApp, in the future," the spokesperson said.
The company further stated that it will take every opportunity to explain how it protects people's personal messages and private information.
The softening of stance on the deadline comes at a time when digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp have become lifelines for people looking for oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, plasma donors and ventilators as the country reels under the deadly second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
India is the biggest market for WhatsApp, and the platform -- as per government data -- has 53 crore users in the country. India remains a critical market for Internet companies like Facebook with its large population base and burgeoning Internet adoption.
The country is the world's second-largest telecom market and the biggest consumer of data.
Following the backlash faced by WhatsApp earlier this year, the popularity of rivals like Telegram and Signal surged as users thronged these platforms.
WhatsApp, in the past, has said it is open to answering any questions from the government on the privacy issue and that it will continue to explain to users that their messages are end-to-end encrypted.
It had also sought to assuage user concerns through blog posts and tweets by its Global Head Will Cathcart and even full-page ads in leading dailies in India.
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Will vacate one of two assembly seats won in 10 days: BJP''s Suvendu
Kolkata (PTI): BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur and secured Nandigram for three times in a row in the recent assembly polls, said on Wednesday that he would vacate one of the two constituencies within 10 days.
Adhikari also asserted that the party's central leadership would decide which constituency he would retain.
"I will vacate one seat within 10 days. The party will decide which one I retain. I will not forget my responsibility towards the people of Bhabanipur and Nandigram," he said.
Adhikari on Monday defeated Banerjee in Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes, puncturing what was long seen as her safest political refuge and delivering a decisive psychological blow to the TMC, amid a sweeping BJP surge across West Bengal.
Addressing party workers and supporters in Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP leader appealed to them not to take out victory processions immediately and instead maintain peace.
"Do not take out victory rallies now. Maintain peace and discipline. Celebrate after May 9, after taking permission," he told party workers.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Wednesday announced that the oath-taking ceremony of the new government will be held on May 9 at Brigade Parade Ground.
Referring to alleged attacks on BJP workers during the TMC regime, Adhikari said he would not forget the “atrocities" faced by them and assured them of taking appropriate action against perpetrators through legal processes.
"I was part of the 2011 ‘poribartan’ (change), and now I am part of the real change. I offer my gratitude to the people of Nandigram," Adhikari said.
He was referring to the TMC's victory in 2011 when the Mamata Banerjee party dismantled the 34-year Left Front regime in the state.
Adhikari offered prayers at a Hanuman statue in Nandigram and remembered the BJP workers, who had died in political violence.
"We will work in such a way that the BJP government in Bengal stays for 100 years," he said, expressing hope that the BJP’s vote share in the state would rise from the current 46 per cent to 60 per cent in future elections.
The BJP leader also assured residents of Nandigram of improved drinking water supply and better hospital and education infrastructure.
