WhatsApp is in massive trouble because of the intended changes to the data protection rules.
But the Californians are sticking to their plans - and are not afraid to take radical steps.
Menlo Park / Munich - With the planned change in the terms of use, the popular messenger service WhatsApp apparently does not shy away from radical measures.
This is reported by the respected US web portal TechCrunch, citing a confidential email.
According to the letter to corporate customers, WhatsApp users will then be asked to accept the new terms of use from May 15, “in order to receive the full functionality of WhatsApp”.
If users still do not agree to the terms of use, there will be functional restrictions.
For a transitional period of a few weeks, stubborn users should still be able to receive calls and messages, "but no longer read or send messages from the app".
This would switch off the core function of the messenger.
WhatsApp: If you don't play along, you fly
In addition, users would be set to the status inactive.
A look at WhatsApp's question and answer collection (FAQ) reveals what that means.
"In order to maintain security, to limit the data retention and to guarantee the data protection of users, WhatsApp accounts are normally deleted after 120 days of inactivity," it says succinctly.
In other words: if you don't play along, you fly.
WhatsApp: Worldwide storm of protest
WhatsApp has been criticized for months because of the planned forced update.
In addition, hosts of angry users recently switched to popular WhatsApp competitors such as Signal or Threema.
In view of the unexpectedly violent reactions, the Facebook subsidiary surprisingly extended the deadline for the adoption of the data protection rules in mid-January.
Instead of the originally planned deadline of February 8, the new data protection rules should now take effect from May 15.
They wanted to use the time to clear up misunderstandings in connection with the update, it said in a blog post in January.
According to WhatsApp, the planned changes are primarily aimed at creating better opportunities for communication with companies, for example for orders directly from the messenger.
An extended forwarding of data to Facebook is not planned, the company assured.
The end-to-end encryption is also left untouched.
WhatsApp: New banner should educate users
To smooth things over, the company also announced a few days ago that it would use a banner to inform users of the planned changes in the coming weeks.
The information should be visible in the "Chat" tab.
It is currently still open whether the action will catch on with the users.
One thing is clear, however: If WhatsApp should actually forcibly log off unruly users in the near future, the waning storm of protest should swell into a veritable shit storm.
