Can’t read your chats with new privacy policy: WhatsApp

New Delhi: Facing intense scrutiny over alleged data sharing with Facebook via new privacy policy, WhatsApp has reiterated that personal messages will always be end-to-end encrypted and the company can’t read or listen to them.

In a new blog post on Thursday, WhatsApp said that in the coming weeks, it will display a banner in its main platform providing more information that people can read at their own pace.

“We’ve also included more information to try and address concerns we’re hearing. Eventually, we’ll start reminding people to review and accept these updates to keep using WhatsApp,” the company said.

Last week, the Supreme Court said that people have grave apprehensions on loss of privacy, making it clear that it is the court’s duty to protect this right as it heard a plea against WhatsApp’s new privacy policy which has now been deferred till May 15.

A bench, headed by the Chief Justice and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian, told counsel for WhatsApp: “People have grave apprehensions about loss of privacy. You may be 2 or 3 trillion dollar company, but people value their privacy more than your money… we have to protect people’s privacy.”

The top court issued notice to WhatsApp and Facebook on this plea against its new privacy policy.

WhatsApp said that it believes people are looking for apps to be both reliable and safe, even if that requires WhatsApp having some limited data.

“We strive to be thoughtful on the decisions we make and we’ll continue to develop new ways of meeting these responsibilities with less information, not more,” it mentioned.

WhatsApp delayed the implementation of a new privacy policy by three months after it faced backlash, with millions of its users moving from the platform to rivals like Telegram and Signal.

The policy change was originally scheduled to come into effect on February 8.