Zayed Rehman·

WhatsApp Won’t Deactivate Your Account If Privacy Policy Is Not Accepted By Deadline

WhatsApp is rolling out a new privacy policy on May 15 and when it was initially announced, users were told that failing to accept this new policy by the deadline could result in a loss of their account. Well, not so much anymore.

In an update to its FAQ page, WhatsApp tells us that failing to accept the new policy by May 15 will no longer mean that a user’s account will be deactivated.

The company first began informing users of this incoming policy starting January this year, but following a backlash by the huge community, the deadline was moved to Feb, and now, once again, to May 15.

For the last several weeks we’ve displayed a notification in WhatsApp providing more information about the update. After giving everyone time to review, we’re continuing to remind those who haven’t had the chance to do so to review and accept. After a period of several weeks, the reminder people receive will eventually become persistent.

That said, it is important to note that while you may not lose your account, WhatsApp will limit certain core functionalities post May 15. The company says:

  • You won’t be able to access your chat list, but you can still answer incoming phone and video calls. If you have notifications enabled, you can tap on them to read or respond to a message or call back a missed phone or video call.

  • After a few weeks of limited functionality, you won’t be able to receive incoming calls or notifications and WhatsApp will stop sending messages and calls to your phone.

How do you feel about this new policy from WhatsApp? Will you continue using the service or move over to something else? Let us know in the comments section below.

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