WhatsApp has got a new tool that lets users recover media that they had previously deleted, including pictures, GIFs, documents or voice messages, but only for Android users.
WhatsApp has not revealed whether it will release the feature to iPhone users.
With the ability to recover deleted information, concerns have arisen over the storage of personal information on the WhatsApp servers.
Parent company Facebook has been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks as it was revealed 87 million of its users had their personal information harvested and used by the political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica. he latest version of WhatsApp for Android (2.8.113) will allow users to re-download older media files.
It used to be the case that WhatsApp would store undownloaded media on its servers for 30 days before deleting.
This appears to have changed with the latest update.
The re-downloading option is only available for files from WhatsApp chats that have not been deleted by either user.
To re-download media, open WhatsApp and go to the Chats page to find the thread that contains the file you’re after.
Ian Woolley, Chief Revenue Officer at Ensighten, commented: “It’s the final weeks of pre-GDPR compliance and the big players in the digital world have begun making their GDPR preparations public. There are ripple effects for the heavily interconnected marketing ecosystem, but one thing remains constant: Every brand needs to have their ducks in a row and their stated consent and personalisation strategy robust and relevant for their site.
“According to a report on WABetaInfo , the latest version of WhatsApp for Android (2.8.113) will allow users to redownload older media files from the company’s servers. But it only seems to go back so far – beyond that users will be given a message asking the sender to re-send the media in question.
“WhatsApp users who want to access their old media files past a certain date will need to request the original sender to resend the media. This highlights the difficulties of GDPR consent compliance and the right to be forgotten. If WhatsApp, with the backing of Facebook, can’t easily provide access to a user’s historical content what can we expect of companies when it comes to even more complicated user consent compliance? Companies need to ensure that they’re investing in the right marketing technology infrastructure to enable them to always enforce user consent and build consumer trust. This trust should be built by design, and includes how data is collected and shared within brands’ underlying website technologies – long before consent is ever granted.
“In the GDPR world, it’s critically important for brands to understand that consumer trust is the new currency, and with WhatsApp making these changes, letting users recover previously deleted media, they are giving customers control and access to what is rightfully theirs. This trust should be built by design, and includes how data is collected and shared within brands’ underlying website technologies – long before consent is ever granted.”
