Earlier this month, WhatsApp scrapped May 15 deadline for its users. In a statement, it says that users won’t lose any functionality if they fail to accept its new privacy policy by May 15. This, however, does not mean that users will not have to accept the new privacy update. As users won't have the full functionality of their WhatsApp account until they accept.
Your account will not be deleted
"No one will have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of WhatsApp on May 15th because of this update," says the company.
WhatsApp will continue to remind users to accept the new terms
While the company has scrapped the deadline for the new policy, it will continue to remind users to accept the new terms. "After giving everyone time to review, we're continuing to remind those who haven’t had the chance to do so to review and accept. After a period of several weeks, the reminder people receive will eventually become persistent," says the company.
What's next after users start receiving repeated reminders
"At that time, you’ll encounter limited functionality on WhatsApp until you accept the updates," says the company."
No deadline for how long you will receive these reminders
"This will not happen to all users at the same time," as per the company.
Users will first lose access to their chat list
Users won’t be able to access their chat list, but they can still answer incoming phone and video calls.
Users can respond to missed phone or video calls
Users who have notifications enabled, can tap on them to read or respond to a message or call back a missed phone or video call.
After a few weeks, WhatsApp to stop sending messages and calls to the phones of these users
"After a few weeks of limited functionality, you won’t be able to receive incoming calls or notifications and WhatsApp will stop sending messages and calls to your phone," says the company's FAQ page.
Users can export their chat history on Android or iPhone
Users who don't want to accept the new privacy update have the choice to export their chat history on Android or iPhone, and download a report of their account.
Inactive accounts policy will apply for the accounts of these users
Finally WhatsApp's existing policy related to inactive users will apply if users do not accept the privacy policy even after repeated reminders.
Deleting WhatsApp account is something which can’t be reversed
Deleting your account is something that users can't reverse as it erases their message history, removes them from all of their WhatsApp groups, and deletes their WhatsApp backups
