WhatsApp update: Fawad Chaudhry hails move to postpone new policy

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Science Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday appreciated WhatsApp’s decision to postpone new terms of service till May after global outcry over concerns on data-sharing with Facebook.

Fawad Chaudhry said that Whatsapp’s decision to delay the change of privacy policy is certainly a positive step.

“Companies like Facebook affect too many people and it’s important that in critical decision making involve a wider section of consumers and data protection must be ensured at all times,” the science minister said on Twitter.

Earlier, WhatsApp announced that it is putting off its new business plans till after May and "no one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8".

Users of the popular app have been scrambling to determine risks to their privacy ever since WhatsApp announced new terms of service. It had previously stated that anyone who does not accept the new terms will not be able to use the app after February 8.

In its message today, WhatsApp seemed to have postponed acting on the above deadline.

"Thank you to everyone who's reached out. We're still working to counter any confusion by communicating directly with WhatsApp users.

"No one will have their account suspended or deleted on Feb 8 and we'll be moving back our business plans until after May," it wrote.

WhatsApp added that it will give plenty of time to users for them to review and understand the terms of use.

"Rest assured we never planned to delete any accounts based on this and will not do so in the future."