SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – WhatsApp delayed data sharing on Saturday after privacy-related users ran away from Facebook-owned messaging service and reached out to rivals Telegram and Signal.
The smartphone app, which has had a huge impact around the world, has canceled its February 8 deadline to accept an update to its data sharing terms with Facebook, saying it would keep the secret. Will use to remove misinformation about privacy and security.
“We’ve heard from a lot of people who are confused about our latest update,” WhatsApp said in a blog post.
“This update does not increase our ability to share data with Facebook.”
It says it will gradually review its policy with the public at its own pace before new business options become available on May 15.
This update concerns how users who use the WhatsApp to chat with users can share data with Facebook, which, according to the social network, may use the information for targeted advertising.
WhatsApp said in a previous blog post, “We can’t view your private messages or listen to your calls or Facebook.”
“We don’t report who everyone is texting or calling,” he said. We can’t see your shared location or Facebook.
According to the WhatsApp, the location statistics along with the contents of the message have been kept secret from time to time.
WhatsApp said in a post, “We are giving businesses the option to use secure hosting services from Facebook to manage helpful WhatsApp chats with our customers, answer questions and send helpful information such as purchase receipts.” Are
“Whether you’re communicating with a business by phone, email, or the WhatsApp, it can see what you’re saying and use that information for its own marketing purposes, including on Facebook. Advertising may also be included. “
Technology experts note that the new requirement for WhatsApp’s own users legally binds to a policy that has been in widespread use since 2016.
Facebook aims to monetize WhatsApp by allowing businesses to connect with customers through the platform, allowing the internet giant to centralize some data on its servers.
The Turkish Competition Authority has said it is launching an investigation and needs to suspend data sharing responsibility from WhatsApp to its users. Several Turkish state organizations, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s media office, responded by turning to Turkish Cell Telecom’s new messaging service, BIP.
The adaptation of the Terms of Service also put WhatsApp on crosshairs in Italy and India, where a petition has been filed in a Delhi court.
The Italian data protection agency GPDP said in a post on its website that users lack the clarity of WhatsApp notices and need to carefully consider the implications of its privacy. The GPDP said it had shared its concerns with the European Data Protection Board and reserved the right to intervene.
Facebook has come under increasing pressure from regulators as it seeks to integrate its services. The European Union (EU) has fined a US social media company 110 million euros (million 120 million) for providing inaccurate and misleading information about WhatsApp’s ability to link accounts between services in 2014.
Federal and state regulators in the United States have accused Facebook of using WhatsApp and Instagram to block competition and filed no-confidence lawsuits last month aimed at removing the company from its possession. To force
.
