WhatsApp: from Saturday you will gradually lose access, you can do this

WhatsApp’s new privacy policy will take effect from Saturday. Those who do not accept the new rules by then will see how more and more functions from the app become inaccessible, before your account becomes completely inactive and eventually disappears.

WhatsApp’s Privacy Policy

For months there has been controversy surrounding the new privacy rules that WhatsApp has announced. In it, the messaging service explains in more detail how it shares data of its users with Facebook. The new rules will come into effect on Saturday 15 May and we will explain the consequences for those who do not accept them.

What if I don’t accept it?

Anyone who has used WhatsApp in recent months but has not accepted the new privacy policy will have regularly seen reminders. You could always ignore it without any problems. In the coming weeks that will change and that notification will suddenly appear permanently, every time you open the app. At that point, you will also lose access to your WhatsApp chats until you agree to the rules.

It is important that you can still receive calls in WhatsApp during this time. You will even continue to see notifications of messages, but you cannot open them in the app, so you will miss the full content of the messages. Through these ways you will still be able to see the entire message. You will also be able to reply as before, directly from the input box at the bottom of the notification.

WhatsApp’s request to accept the privacy policy

When will I lose access?

WhatsApp does not provide exact dates when users are losing more and more functionalities. A few weeks after you can only read and reply to messages from your notifications, you will no longer be able to answer phone calls, receive messages, and you will no longer have the ability to send messages. At that moment you will actually have completely lost access.

Technically, your account is inactive, but it is not immediately deleted by the messaging service. Only after 120 days of inactivity will WhatsApp delete it, and such deletion is final.

At first you can still respond to messages, but only from the notification

What should I do?

There are many different opinions about WhatsApp and the way you transfer your personal data to Facebook. Security expert Donny Maasland from ESET Netherlands stated in a recent interview with us that we need to learn to use WhatsApp differently and avoid sensitive information in messages. Although there are also opinions that shout that we should all get rid of WhatsApp.

Whatever you do, there are multiple options for you to proceed. The first is of course to simply accept the privacy rules and continue to use the app unhindered. On the other hand, you can also migrate all your conversations from WhatsApp directly to Telegram, another well-known messaging app. There are also other messaging apps, but it is of course important to convince all your contacts to use such an alternative. What are you going to do? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this article.

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