WhatsApp banner over chats: what does it indicate?

From March 15, new WhatsApp terms of use will take effect – the company will indicate this with a banner. This will soon appear in the chat overview.

In early January, Messenger WhatsApp came under fire because it wanted to force users to accept the new terms of use. The content of these provisions was so vaguely worded that many misunderstood it as a free ticket to transfer data to Facebook’s parent company. Since then, alternative messaging programs like Signal and Telegram have seen a rapid increase in download numbers. To take control of the situation, WhatsApp backed down. The new regulations will go into effect on March 15th – instead of February 8th as originally planned.

Nothing changes in normal chat usage

The messenger indicates the new appointment with a banner appearing over WhatsApp chats. There it says that WhatsApp’s terms of use and data protection provisions will be adapted. Changes can be checked in detail with a single click.

In fact, absolutely nothing changes with the use of your regular messaging program. WhatsApp has been sharing data with Facebook since 2016. Many may not have known this, but TECHBOOK among others has. I mentioned extensively about this. In the European Union, data transmission is more stringent than anywhere else. For residents of the European Union, everything remains the same.

Read on: WhatsApp accesses this data from your mobile phone

The new WhatsApp Terms of Use regulate how users communicate with companies through Messenger. Chats are usually end-to-end encrypted. This means that you alone can read the news. Even if the WhatsApp server is hacked, no one will be able to see the chat content. However, this protection does not exist in conversations with companies. The content of these messages is not encrypted. Thus it can be used for targeted Facebook advertising and stored on company servers.

The logo leads to new WhatsApp Terms of Use

After WhatsApp has already made these changes As a status message imposed on its users, A banner should now appear above your chats. If you click on it, a page appears To which the changes are explained.

The WhatsApp logo shows the new terms of use
WhatsApp tries to keep the changing-minded people with data protection promises in Messenger.Photo: WhatsApp

On the side, WhatsApp explicitly states that communication with companies is completely optional. Users control whether they want to contact companies via WhatsApp. You can block and delete contacts from your list at any time. Chats with companies are also explicitly labeled as such, so as not to be confused with regular chats.

WhatsApp is also trying to confirm that chats between users are still end-to-end encrypted. So neither WhatsApp nor Facebook will be able to access the message content.

Stan Shaw

<p class="sign">"Professional food nerd. Internet scholar. Typical bacon buff. Passionate creator."</p>

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