Here’s what happens to your WhatsApp account if you don’t agree to privacy changes by May 15

By Steven Melendez

February 22, 2021

WhatsApp is updating its privacy policies, and if you don’t agree to the changes by May 15, you’ll see some limitations on your account.

“For a short time, you’ll be able to receive calls and notifications, but won’t be able to read or send messages from the app,” the Facebook-owned messaging service warns.

You’ll still be able to accept the changes after that date, but the company’s policy on inactive accounts will apply as usual, which implies you could see your account deleted after 120 days of nonuse.

The privacy update is controversial since it includes sharing some data, such as your phone number, IP address, and “information on how you interact with others” with WhatsApp parent Facebook.

If you don’t like the new privacy policy and simply want to be done with WhatsApp, you might want to export your settings and chat history from the app so you don’t lose them. To export your settings and account information, go to the Settings menu and tap Account, then Request account info.

To get your actual messages exported from the app, use the app’s manual backup feature, available on both iPhone and Android. Messages generally are just stored in the app, not on WhatsApp’s servers, so make sure to run the export before you get a new phone.

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