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Logos from WhatsApp and Facebook: The deadline doesn't necessarily have to end
Photo:
Dado Ruvic / REUTERS
WhatsApp wants as many of its users as possible to accept its new rules as soon as possible.
At the same time, the messenger does not seem to want to scare anyone with an overly tough deadline.
An initial
eat or die
has meanwhile become something new, a:
eat or see how long you can get by without eating
.
Saturday, May 15th, is the official deadline by which WhatsApps users should approve the revised terms of use and the new data protection guideline. The Facebook subsidiary had already postponed that deadline by three months in January after many users were confused about what should change at all. WhatsApp, the Germans' favorite communication app, communicated poorly.
In essence, the approval is a formality, because in the area of private conversations everything remains the same for WhatsApp users from Germany.
Anyone who is now indignant, for example, that WhatsApp has lost some data such as the telephone number and device ID as well as some usage information - no chat content!
- shares with Facebook, could have been upset about it for several years.
Because these data transfers are not new.
WhatsApp only seems to be almost consciously avoiding to this day, making its users understand such processes in an easily understandable and clear form.
Instead, it distributes its information, such as the fact that Facebook does not use such data for "more interesting Facebook ads", on all sorts of subpages.
Soon you will be able to chat with companies
The biggest change WhatsApp is headed for now is the ability to chat with companies via Messenger.
According to WhatsApp, this function is optional, the corresponding chats should be clearly identifiable as such.
So no reason not to agree just because of that, WhatsApp probably wants to say.
Messenger has recently started using pop-up windows to inform users of the upcoming deadline.
"The terms of use are valid from May 15, 2021," it says on the app's start screen.
"Please agree to these terms and conditions so that you can continue to use WhatsApp after this date."
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Pop-up for WhatsApp users: This message sometimes covers up the chats if you have not yet consented
Photo:
Hard rule quickly softened
That sounds like May 15th as the final deadline.
In the meantime, however, it looks like we can take more time.
WhatsApp does not want to delete accounts of unwilling users, as the company had already made clear in February.
The company also softened its announcement in February that the app could only be used without consent after the deadline to accept the rules or to install updates.
From May 15, WhatsApp wrote on a help page that users who refuse to give their consent could neither read nor send messages in the app from May 15.
It is still possible to receive calls and notifications "for a short time".
And of course, a subsequent approval is also possible.
That help page has recently been updated again.
Now there are new details about what the narrow-gauge version of WhatsApp looks like for those unwilling to consent, supplemented by hints that the "short time" mentioned there may not be that short at all.
After 120 days there is a threat of an account deletion - but not because of the new rules
A so-called permanent reminder should therefore only be displayed to users after »a few weeks« have elapsed.
If you look at WhatsApp's screenshots on the help page, the reminder pop-up that the app is already playing should become the start screen permanently, presumably without the previous option of getting rid of it with a click on the X.
In practice, you could no longer access your chat list and no longer actively write to anyone.
At the same time, however, it should still be possible to accept voice and video calls.
It should also be possible to read and reply to received messages, provided you have activated your push notifications.
Those notifications should also allow you to call someone back if you missed their voice or video call.
WhatsApp does not write how long the app can be used in this phase.
After "a few weeks of restricted functionality" - so we're talking about "a few weeks" followed by "a few weeks" - there should really be a hard cut, without any calls or notifications.
"WhatsApp will then no longer send messages or calls to your cell phone," they say.
By the way, just because you do not agree to the new rules, no account should be deleted. At this point, however, an older WhatsApp policy comes into play: If you don't use your WhatsApp account for 120 days, you can lose it due to inactivity. "Normally" at least, as it says on the associated information page of the messenger.
