News
WhatsApp Decides Not To Limit Users Who Don’t Accept Its New Privacy Policy
It seems that the backlash has been strong enough to make executives at Facebook reconsider their decisions because the latest announcement from the company contradicts the previous one.
This year in February, Facebook-owned WhatsApp stated in an FAQ on its website that users who didn’t accept its new privacy policy by May 15th would lose access to certain features, such as the ability to send or read messages from the app.
The announcement sparked a wave of protests on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms, with some users threatening to leave the messaging and voice-over-IP service app for more privacy-oriented alternatives, such as Signal, Telegram, or Threema.
It seems that the backlash has been strong enough to make executives at Facebook reconsider their decisions because the latest announcement from the company contradicts the previous one.
“Given recent discussions with various authorities and privacy experts, we want to make clear that we will not limit the functionality of how WhatsApp works for those who have not yet accepted the update,” said a WhatsApp spokesperson in a statement to The Verge.
One reason why the new policy caused so much outrage was that many WhatsApp users believed that they would be required to share their phone numbers and other sensitive information with various third parties.
In reality, the policy update affects mainly businesses using the platform to sell their goods and services using the messaging app, allowing them to see what you’re saying and use this information for their own marketing purposes.
“We will continue to remind users from time to time and let them accept the update, including when they choose to use relevant optional features like communicating with a business that is receiving support from Facebook,” the WhatsApp spokesperson added.
The entire rollout of the policy update has been mishandled, to say the least, with WhatsApp seemingly not fully realizing how much more security and privacy-oriented have its users become since the messaging app started sharing user data with Facebook in 2016.
News
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
Google brings its latest image model to Gemini and Search, adding 4K output and tighter text control for regional users.
Google has opened access to Nano Banana 2 across the Middle East and North Africa, pushing its newest image model into everyday tools rather than keeping it inside the exclusive (and expensive) Pro tier.
The rollout spans the Google Gemini desktop and mobile apps, and extends to Google Search through Lens and AI Mode. Developers can also test it in preview via AI Studio and the Gemini API.
Nano Banana 2 runs on Gemini Flash, Google’s fast inference layer. The focus is speed, but also control. Users can export visuals from 512px up to 4K, adjusting aspect ratios for everything from vertical social posts to widescreen displays.
The model maintains character likeness across up to five figures and preserves fidelity for as many as 14 objects within a single workflow. This enables visual continuity across scenes, iterations, or edits — supporting projects like short films, storyboards, and multi-scene narratives. Text rendering has also been improved, delivering legible typography in mockups and greeting cards, with built-in translation and localization directly within images.
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Under the hood, the system taps Gemini’s broader knowledge base and pulls in real-time information and imagery from web search to render specific subjects more accurately. Lighting and fine detail have been upgraded, without slowing output.
By embedding the model inside Gemini and Search, Google is normalizing advanced image generation for a mass audience. In MENA, where startups and marketing teams are leaning heavily on AI to scale content across languages and borders, that shift lands at a practical moment.
The move also folds creative tooling deeper into search itself, so that image generation is no longer a separate workflow. It now sits right next to the query box.
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
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