During the beginning of the year, WhatsApp wanted its users to agree to a new privacy policy that would force everyone using the messaging app to share personal data with Facebook. Why Facebook? In February 2014, WhatsApp agreed to be purchased by Facebook in a deal that was ultimately valued at $19 billion.
WhatsApp subscribers not exactly thrilled by the idea of sharing their personal data with Facebook
If you plan not to accept the update, before you decide to delete your WhatsApp account on Android, iOS, or KaiOS, there are things to keep in mind. “Deleting your account is something we can’t reverse as it erases your message history, removes you from all of your WhatsApp groups, and deletes your WhatsApp backups.”
WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption and uses your phone’s internet connection to send and receive messages, calls, photos, videos, documents, and Voice Messages. Certain countries have taken their own stand against WhatsApp such as Germany which earlier this month banned it from processing the user data of people living in the country. In Turkey, WhatsApp is not allowed to complete disseminating its update and India asked WhatsApp to remove its new privacy policy from the app.
Facebook concerned about WhatsApp users leaving the messaging app for other secure rivals like Signal and Telegram
WhatsApp was forced to give up and give in in an effort to keep more of its members from jumping to other messaging apps with end-to-end encryption like Signal and Telegram. For the latter though, a “secret chats” feature must be enabled for every contact individually. By the way, you might not be aware that your WhatsApp chats are backed up daily to your phone’s memory.
To back up your chats go to WhatsApp > More options > Settings > Chats > Chat backup > BACK UP.
The bottom line is that WhatsApp keeps changing its mind when it comes to how it plans to handle subscribers who won’t agree to the new privacy policy. Hearing that user’s personal data would have been turned over to Facebook might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.