WhatsApp is delaying by three months the rollout of a new policy that some critics said would turn over user data to Facebook.
WhatsApp is deferring its protection strategy changes that pundits said would have constrained clients to impart individual information to Facebook, as indicated by an organization blog entry distributed Friday.
The deferral was expected to the "disarray" and "deception" encompassing the new approach, as per the organization. It said the new approach update just incorporates new alternatives for individuals to deal with their business on WhatsApp and "doesn't extend our capacity to impart information to Facebook."
The date of the new arrangement rollout will be pushed back until May 15, as indicated by the blog entry. WhatsApp additionally said nobody's record will be suspended or erased on February 8, when the arrangement was initially planned to become effective.
The declaration comes fourteen days after WhatsApp reported the new change, drawing analysis from the informing application's clients who were worried about their information security. After the new strategy was reported, numerous clients started running to elective informing stages, for example, the scrambled visit application Signal. Tesla CEO Elon Musk even tweeted to "utilize signal."
WhatsApp on Monday endeavored to address the turmoil over security worries with a post on its site, clarifying that the update was intended to help organizations on its foundation, as it emphasized in Friday's post.
"We need to be certain that the strategy update doesn't influence the security of your messages with companions or family in any capacity. All things considered, this update incorporates changes identified with informing a business on WhatsApp, which is discretionary, and gives further straightforwardness about how we gather and use information," WhatsApp said.
Signal saw 7.5 million downloads last week, a 4,200% spike since the previous week. On Wednesday, Signal was at the top of both Google and Apple's app stores. Large swaths of users migrated to Telegram as well — the platform gained 9 million new users last week, up 91% from the previous week, and is also at the top of Google and Apple's app stores.