WhatsApp Messenger Policy: WhatsApp Accounts of Users in Kashmir Valley Automatically Expires After 4 Months of Internet Ban
It is important to note that the government stopped the mobile services and internet access in the valley from August 4 when the state's special status was revoked. According to TRAI data, the total active mobile subscriber base in the state has almost reduced to half from July to September.
On Wednesday, WhatsApp users in the J&K valley were seen losing access to their WhatsApp accounts because of the app's unique policy for inactive accounts. According to WhatsApp's policy, the WhatsApp account of the user will become deactivated is remaining inactive after 120 days. For maintaining security and limit data retention, WhatsApp accounts generally expire after 120 days of inactivity. When that happens, account user automatically exits from all their WhatsApp groups. Notably, people will be required to be re-added to the groups after gaining access to the internet and joining WhatsApp again. WhatsApp Beta Update Brings Hidden Features For Activating Dark Mode; How To Enable Dark Mode on WhatsApp.
The Facebook-owned company mentioned that this a policy for all WhatsApp accounts and it wasn't just a Jammu & Kashmir specific feature.
As Jammu & Kashmir has completely precisely four months of internet shutdown on December 4, various residents of the valley witnessed their WhatsApp accounts getting inactive. The users also found that their accounts getting exited from the WhatsApp groups.
Notably, WhatsApp has over 400 million user base in the country, and the company hasn't revealed the region-wise split of the base. According to the report from TOI, Kawoosa, a J&K resident witnessed that all his friends and family members automatically exited from the Messenger groups on Wednesday night. Indian Navy Day 2019: WhatsApp Stickers, Quotes, SMS and Messages for the Day That Honours Country’s Naval Forces.
Moreover, people also took on social media to report such an incident wherein J&K members from their WhatsApp group were witnessed, leaving the group in masses. It is important to note that the data of WhatsApp user is backed up on Google Drive, and they can restore the same once they regain access to their accounts.
It is important to note that the government stopped the mobile services and internet access in the valley from August 4 when the state's special status was revoked. According to TRAI data, the total active mobile subscriber base in the state has almost reduced to half from July to September.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 05, 2019 05:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).