WhatsApp has delayed its new privacy policy as users run away from competing apps

 San Francisco WhatsApp is delaying updating its privacy policy after widespread confusion over what data it shares with its parent company, Facebook.

 Last month, WhatsApp began notifying users of its updated terms and privacy policy, which people had agreed to continue using after February 8.

 A certain part of the policy has caused concern among consumers. Which user data has been collected and shared with Facebook, which has a low track record around privacy and the protection of people's data. The confusion surrounding the update has led to a large number of users moving towards rival apps like Signal.

 The WhatsApp update will not take effect until May 15

 We heard from a lot of people about the confusion surrounding our recent update on whatsaap. There have been so many misunderstandings that have caused concern and we want to help everyone understand our principles and facts, "WhatsApp said in a blog post announcing the delay on Friday.

 In Friday's blog post, WhatsApp emphasized that its platform has finally included encryption features, meaning it can neither view private messages from Facebook users. It also doesn't log into who users are calling or texting. WhatsApp says it can not see a person's shared location and does not share user contacts with Facebook.

 WhatsApp's privacy policy was last updated globally in 2016. At the time, it offered users the ability to opt-out of data sharing with Facebook. In this latest update, this reference is no longer available. The opt-out option has been removed. This means that no additional WhatsApp user data will be shared with Facebook compared to recent years. Those who chose the opt-out option in 2016 will not be affected.

 The policy updates are largely based on people chatting with businesses purpose of WhatsApp. Lots of businesses that use the app to connect with users can choose to save their chat logs to Facebook's hosting services. But WhatsApp said it would explicitly label the chat, so it's up to the user to decide if they want to message the business.