WhatsApp new privacy policy: What will happen if you don't accept it

The Facebook-owned application will continue to remind users to accept the new privacy policy. WhatsApp claims that after a period of several weeks, the reminder people receive will eventually become persistent.

Once users start receiving a persistent reminder, they will encounter limited functionality on WhatsApp until they accept the updates. However, WhatsApp claims that this will not happen to all users at the same time.

WhatsApp users won’t be able to access their chat list but users will still be able to answer incoming phone and video calls. If the user has notifications enabled, they can tap on them to read or respond to a message or call back a missed phone or video call.

As a few more weeks pass, the user won’t be able to receive incoming calls or notifications and WhatsApp will stop sending messages and calls to their phone.

The user will be able to export their chat history on Android or iPhone, and download a report of their account. WhatsApp won’t delete their account if they don’t accept the update.

Deleting the account erases message history, removes the user from all of their WhatsApp groups, and deletes their WhatsApp backups.

A WhatsApp spokesperson told Mint, ” We’ve spent the last few months working to clear up confusion and misinformation. As a reminder this update does not impact the privacy of personal messages for anyone. Our goal is to provide information about new options we are building that people will have, to message a business on WhatsApp, in the future. While the majority of users who have received the new terms of service have accepted them, we appreciate some people haven’t had the chance to do so yet.”