Amid public backlash WhatsApp extends data sharing deadline till May

Following concerns and global public criticism, the messaging platform WhatsApp has temporarily postponed its data-sharing initiative with Facebook.

WhatsApp made an important announcement on its controversial privacy policy, announcing a three-month delay. Earlier, the popular smartphone audio and video communication app had said that it would change its policy from February 8 and share a lot of user data with Facebook.

“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 said.

“We will make sure users have plenty of time to review and understand the terms. Rest assured we never planned to delete any accounts based on this and will not do so in the future,” WhatsApp added.

A few days ago, WhatsApp had said that in the first week of next month, WhatsApp will share various data of its users on Facebook, which has made people hesitant since then. On the other hand, it was also facing severe criticism from the public, and people around the world were increasingly leaving WhatsApp and moving to other platforms.

Following the announcement, nearly two billion WhatsApp users around the world criticized the privacy policy, and a large number of people began slamming the policy turning to other apps especially Signal and Telegram, which topped Apple and the App Store.

According to analysts, WhatsApp has postponed this decision after a large number of WhatsApp users moved to other apps and under pressure. It should be noted that consumers in the UK and European countries will not be included in this new privacy policy.