WhatsApp may soon announce new terms of service, here’s what you will not be able to do if you don’t accept – Times of India

Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp is said to announce its updated terms of service soon. As per a report by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp will make the updated terms of service optional for the users. This means that the terms will not be mandatory for WhatsApp users to accept. They will have the option to review and accept them if a user wants to chat with specific business accounts.
WaBetaInfo is an online platform that keeps track of upcoming features and updates on WhatsApp. In its report, it says that “WhatsApp will officially announce that you can still use WhatsApp to chat with your friends and family without accepting the updated Terms of Service.”

Many back and forth in the past
WhatsApp introduced its new privacy policy in January this year. Due to backlash and criticism over the privacy and data of its users, there has been a lot of forth and back from WhatsApp on what happens if a user does not accept the new policy. The company extended the deadline to accept the policy multiple times and also announced to punish users by limiting features on the app. Of course, that did not happen.
What’s different now
Now, a new report suggests that WhatsApp users who do not accept the updated terms of service can continue to chat with friends and family. However, if they wish to send a message to a business account that uses cloud providers, they will have to accept the terms.
“We can finally announce that they will be optional with a future update but, if you want to send a message to business accounts that use cloud providers, you won’t be able to message them if you don’t accept the terms,” the WABetaInfo report says.
WaBetaInfo, in its report, states that the matter can be considered ‘closed’ as WhatsApp is planning to announce this change about the Terms of Service very soon. It is expected to release a new update on WhatsApp beta for Android and iOS that supports this change.