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Social Media Today reports that WhatsApp's first attempt at updating its Terms of Service saw major user backlash across the globe, so it just launched a fresh effort to explain its upcoming data sharing change, and alleviate concerns around the still-planned update.
The original announcement came back in January. The company said it intended to update its terms to enable it to further utilize information relating to business interactions within the app - and that didn't go down very well with a large number of users. Here's the platform's latest attempt:
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"We previously encountered a great deal of misinformation about this update, and we continue to work hard to clear up any confusion.[...] We've reflected on what we could have done better here. We want everyone to know our history of defending end-to-end encryption and trust; we're committed to protecting people's privacy and security. We're now using our Status feature to share our values and updates directly within WhatsApp. We'll be doing much more to make our voice clear going forward."
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That upgrade will include new direct, detailed prompts within business chats, new in-app banners to provide more information on the change, while it's also published quick explainers in multiple languages. WhatsApp is being extra cautious this time after millions of users downloaded alternate messaging apps in the weeks following its initial announcement. However, during this effort, the platform also took a moment to have a dig at its competition:
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"During this time, we understand 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, that means they can read your messages. Other apps say they're better because they know even less information than WhatsApp. We believe people are looking for apps to be both reliable and safe, even if that requires WhatsApp having some limited data. We strive to be thoughtful on the decisions we make, and we'll continue to develop new ways of meeting these responsibilities with less information, not more."
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