WhatsApp asks users to agree to new policy after privacy panic

• WhatsApp will start asking users to agree to a new privacy policy.
• The messaging app had previously asked users in January, but inadvertently triggered a privacy panic.
• The panic has increased the number of users of competing encrypted messaging services Signal and Telegram.
• Visit Insider’s Business section for more stories.

WhatsApp is trying to rally users a month after a change in privacy policy sparked widespread panic.

In January, the company sent a notification to users asking them to agree to an updated privacy policy or lose access to the app.

The privacy policy, in fact, only materially affected the way the platform treats data from messages sent to business accounts. However, many users believed this meant more of their data would be shared with WhatsApp’s parent company, Facebook.

WhatsApp subsequently extended the deadline for accepting the new terms and conditions. On Thursday he posted a blog post saying he would ask users to sign the new policy again.

This time, however, rather than sending them a pop-up notification, WhatsApp will display a banner at the top of the app that users can click to view the new policy. Click on the banner for a fuller explanation of what exactly is changing.

In its blog post, WhatsApp appears to have wiped out competing apps, which gained user numbers after last month’s privacy scares.

“Meanwhile, we understand that some people may check out other apps to see what they have to offer. We’ve seen some of our competitors try to get away with claiming they can’t see people’s messages – if an app doesn’t offer end-to-end encryption by default, which means they can read your messages, ”he said.

WhatsApp didn’t name the competitors it was referring to, but two of the biggest apps to benefit from January’s privacy scare were the Signal and Telegram messaging apps. Signal’s downloads soared 4,200% within four days of WhatsApp’s notification, with 7.5 million new downloads. Telegram said it attracted 25 million new users in 72 hours, surpassing the 500 million downloads mark.

While Signal is end-to-end encrypted by default, Telegram is not.

WhatsApp appeared to make a veiled reference to these services in its blog, saying, “Other apps say they’re better because they know even less information than WhatsApp. We think people are looking for apps that are like both reliable and secure, even if it requires WhatsApp to have limited data. “

Signal and Telegram collect less metadata about users than WhatsApp, which experts say make better services for people looking to protect their privacy.