What many Whatsapp users do not know: The messenger service deletes unused Whatsapp accounts after a certain period of time. However, the affected users will not receive any prior warning about the upcoming deletion of their account.
Whatsapp has specified in its terms of use at this point when it deletes accounts due to inactivity. Accordingly, Whatsapp will delete an account for inactivity if the user has not connected via Whatsapp for 120 days.
Attention: You have installed Whatsapp on a smartphone that has not been connected to the Internet for 120 days? This also evaluates Whatsapp as inactivity and then deletes the Whatsapp account.
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This is what happens with the contents of the Whatsapp account
However, the contents of the Whatsapp account saved on the smartphone before the account was deleted are retained. WhatsApp writes:
Content that was stored locally on a user’s device prior to account deletion will remain until Whatsapp is removed from the device. If a user registers for Whatsapp again on the same device, their saved content reappears.
From the Whatsapp FAQ
Whatsapp will delete all account information and all undelivered messages. It also removes the deleted account from all communities and groups. For technical reasons, however, it can take up to 90 days for all information to actually be deleted.
Incidentally, Whatsapp continues to store some information about a deleted account, as the company writes here. Whatsapp means by this is “log and problem-solving information related to the audited incident”. Whatsapp also keeps copies of certain log records for analysis purposes.
Why does Whatsapp delete an inactive account at all?
Whatsapp lists these three reasons for deleting an inactive account: “To maintain security, limit data retention and ensure user privacy”. Whatsapp means, for example, if you change your phone number and connect your Whatsapp account to the new number. So that the later new owner of your old phone number, which has now become free, cannot link it to Whatsapp and then access your old content, Whatsapp deletes such accounts that are no longer used.
How to avoid Whatsapp account deletion?
In principle, it is sufficient if your smartphone with Whatsapp reconnects to the Internet within 120 days. But you are on the safe side if you open Whatsapp and write a message or do any other activity.
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