U.S. Raises Alarm Over Chinese AI Firms’ Alleged IP Theft Through Model Distillation 
Advantest Stock Falls on Weak Outlook Despite Strong AI-Driven Results 
Amazon Stock Rises as Meta Expands AWS Partnership for AI Infrastructure 
SMC Corp Stock Surges as Palliser Capital Pushes for Major Share Buyback 
Apple Q2 2026 Earnings Surge as iPhone 17 Sales Drive Record Revenue 
Australia Targets Meta, Google, and TikTok With New News Payment Tax Proposal 
U.S. Cybersecurity Pushes Faster Patch Deadlines Amid Rising AI-Driven Threats 
OpenAI Faces Revenue Pressure and User Growth Challenges Ahead of IPO 
T-Mobile Beats Q1 Earnings Expectations on Strong Postpaid Growth 
DeepSeek Slashes AI Model Pricing to Boost Adoption and Challenge Global Rivals 
Seagate Stock Surges After Strong Q3 Earnings Beat and Bullish Outlook 
Google Secures Pentagon AI Deal for Classified Projects 
Judge Dismisses Elon Musk’s Fraud Claims Against OpenAI, Trial to Proceed on Remaining Allegations 
FBI Warns of China’s Expanding Hack-for-Hire Network Amid Extradition Case 
Taiwan Activates Backup Communications After Undersea Cable Break on Dongyin Island 
WhatsApp has once again changed its plans on dealing with users who still refuse to accept its new privacy policy implemented earlier this month. The Facebook-owned messaging app now says it does not plan on limiting functionality after discussions with authorities and experts.
The company previously said WhatsApp users who fail to accept its new privacy policy would eventually have limited access to the app’s features. However, significant changes were recently spotted in the app’s guidelines after the new privacy policy took effect last May 15.
Now, under the “What happens after the effect date?” section, the WhatsApp support page says, “We currently have no plans for these reminders to become persistent and to limit the functionality of the app.” This is about the third time WhatsApp changed its course of actions concerning the May 15 update.
In February, the company warned users who will not agree to the new rules would soon lose access to the app’s features. Earlier this month, WhatsApp changed its guidelines to say the reminder to accept the new policy would be more persistent for a few weeks after May 15.
After the “persistent reminder,” users would get “limited functionality” that would have entailed losing access to the chat list. Replying to messages and answering calls would have been only available via the notification panel. The full changes can be compared through an Internet Archive version of the WhatsApp support page, as first reported by Tom’s Guide.
“Given recent discussions with various authorities and privacy experts, we want to make clear that we currently have no plans to limit the functionality of how WhatsApp works for those who have not yet accepted the update,” WhatsApp told The Next Web. But given how the guidelines have changed over the previous months, it would not be surprising if the messaging app later changes its approach to users who do not like the new policy.
Germany’s Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (HmbBfDI) was one of the government agencies that blocked WhatsApp’s May 15 update. In its official ruling, the commission notably said, “Consent is not freely given, since WhatsApp demands acceptance of the new provisions as a condition for the continued use of the service's functionalities.”
In the current version of the post-May 15 guidelines, WhatsApp reiterates it does not intend to delete accounts of users who have yet to agree to the new policy. However, the page still includes a reminder about WhatsApp’s separate policy on inactive users that states, “Accounts are generally deleted after 120 days of inactivity.”
Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash
