After losing millions of users to Signal and Telegram, WhatsApp posted a series of Statuses over the weekend in an effort to convince you that your privacy is still its top priority.

WhatsApp Is Trying to Convince You to Stay

According to The Verge, WhatsApp posted Status messages to its official account with a link to its Privacy Page.

On WhatsApp, a Status is a lot like a Story on Snapchat, Facebook, or Instagram: a vertical photo or video post that stays up for 24 hours before disappearing forever.

WhatsApp users from the US and UK only recently started seeing the pictured Status updates that WhatsApp posted to its account, but users in India have been seeing them for some time now.

It has not been explained why India could view the posts first, but we can infer that it was likely due to the email WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart received from the Indian technology ministry almost two weeks ago.

WhatsApp Will Be Changing Its Privacy Policy

A folder of messaging apps on an iPhone

In the first week of January, WhatsApp announced changes to its privacy policy and terms of service. It stated that in order to use the messaging service after February 8, 2021, you have to agree to share your data with Facebook. Otherwise, your account could be suspended or deleted.

The news came a few months after Messenger merged with Instagram Direct. We shouldn't be surprised, really, as Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was rumored to be planning to merge Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp back in 2019.

But even with all the warning signals beforehand, the announcement still didn't sit well with many WhatsApp users.

Eventually, WhatsApp moved to delay the privacy policy update from February to May. "There's been a lot of misinformation causing concern and we want to help everyone understand our principles and the facts," said WhatsApp.

Following the updates in May, messages will still be encrypted and new features will be added for those conducting business matters on the app. However, Facebook and other third party services will still be able to access information such as your IP address, phone number, and mobile device information.

Related: Why Are People Suddenly Looking for WhatsApp Alternatives?

So users are simply being given more time to review the new privacy policy. The changes will still eventually come in effect, but now you have three more months to decide whether or not you'll be changing apps.

Is It Too Late for WhatsApp to Fix This?

It would seem that if you want to one day access your Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp messages all in one place, you'll have to sacrifice some of your privacy.

Even though WhatsApp has clarified what the new update entails, that effort just might be all for naught. A sizable chunk of its userbase has already split off to try competitor services, such as Signal and Telegram.