WhatsApp plans to reintroduce the new privacy policy that has sparked a backlash against the Facebook-owned messaging app.
The company said it would notify users of the new privacy policy "in the coming weeks," and would provide more information about the changes before requiring users to agree to the new terms.
WhatsApp wrote in a post on its blog, "In the coming weeks, a banner will appear on WhatsApp that provides more information that people can read. We have included more information to try to address the concerns we hear. Ultimately, we will start reminding people to review and accept these updates to continue using them." What's Up".
The privacy policy is the same as the company introduced in January, whose rollout was later delayed due to growing user anger.
A WhatsApp spokesperson confirmed that users will eventually have to agree to the new terms by May 15, when the new policy takes effect.
The new privacy policy shows Facebook's endeavor to expand the areas of the messaging application, by introducing commercial messaging tools to the application and adding new in-app shopping features.
To do this, linking it to Facebook will play an important role in enabling these interactions.
This may lead to linking corporate ads to WhatsApp, which will affect the incoming advertising income of Facebook.
The fact that WhatsApp introduced these changes and requested user consent without notice, and a general distrust of Facebook, has sparked many widespread angry reactions.
Many users interpreted the update of the privacy policy as a powerful tool for WhatsApp to share more data with Facebook without the ability to unsubscribe.
It is not clear whether the new messages of reassurance will be sufficient to repair the damage already done, as the fallout has led to increased interest in alternative messaging apps such as Signal and Telegram.
On Thursday, WhatsApp touched on the growing interest in competing services, saying, "We understand that some people may try other applications," but the company also indicated that these services may be less "reliable and secure" than WhatsApp.
"Other applications say they are better because they know less information than WhatsApp," the company said. "We believe that people are looking for applications to be reliable and safe, even if that requires sharing some limited data."