da-kuk/Getty Images Safety frameworks will provide a necessary first layer of data protection, especially as conversations around artificial intelligence (AI) become increasingly complex.  These frameworks and principles will help mitigate potential risks while tapping the opportunities for emerging technology, including generative AI (Gen AI), said Denise Wong, deputy commissioner of Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC), which […] More

Everyone needs a password manager. Period, full stop. It’s the only possible way to maintain unique, hard-to-guess credentials for every secure site you, your family members, and your team access daily. Working from home: The future of business is remote From Fortune 500 enterprises to very small businesses, most every organization has been thrust into […] More

female lab technician doing research with a microscope in the lab. coronavirus Getty Images/iStockphoto The US government has formally accused China today of orchestrating cyber-attacks against US companies working on COVID-19 research. The accusations were levied in a joint statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (DHS CISA) and […] More

Image: WhatsApp
WhatsApp has announced that it will delay enforcing its new privacy terms from February 8 to May 15.
With little fanfare, in recent weeks, WhatsApp has presented users with a prompt to accept its new privacy terms by February 8, or risk not being able to use the app. In the wording used, WhatsApp says the new privacy policy will change how it partners with Facebook to “offer integrations”, and that businesses can use Facebook services to manage WhatsApp chats.
After some online consternation about what Facebook could access, WhatsApp clarified last week that its changes were focused on how businesses used the app.
“We want to be clear that the policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family in any way,” the company said. “Instead, this update includes changes related to messaging a business on WhatsApp, which is optional, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data.”
See also: India puts WhatsApp’s impending payments service on ice due to data localisation fracas
By the end of the week though, the company decided to delay the changes until May, saying there was a “lot of misinformation” flying around.
“We’re now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms. No one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8,” it said.

“We’re also going to do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsApp. We’ll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.”
One of the benefactors of WhatsApp’s changes has been Signal, which has seen so many users sign up to its service that its infrastructure fell over at the weekend.
See also: Switching to Signal? Turn on these settings now for greater privacy and security
“We have been adding new servers and extra capacity at a record pace every single day this week nonstop, but today exceeded even our most optimistic projections,” the company tweeted. “Millions upon millions of new users are sending a message that privacy matters.”
Over a day later, the company said the service had resumed, however, some users have been seeing a “bad encrypted message” warning that requires users to reset the session. Signal said its next update will automatically fix this issue.
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<!–> Photo Illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images Over the past several months, Google has been slowly rolling out Chrome’s new ad technology. Describing it as “Enhanced ad privacy,” the new policy essentially lets websites take a user’s Chrome browser history and serve related ads.  The new technology first appeared in a Chrome update in July, but […] More