Why did Zalo suddenly update its terms of use?

When opening Zalo to reply to customer messages, Thanh Hung, a sales employee in Ho Chi Minh City, saw a screen asking to accept the new terms. Because he wanted time to read more carefully, he intended to temporarily refuse, but the message “account will be deleted” made him pause.

“I was in a hurry, this account was used a lot for work, so I clicked to accept all the terms to continue using it even though I didn’t understand all the content,” he said.

Meanwhile, Thanh Tuan (Hanoi), who works in the technology field and has used Zalo for nearly 10 years, felt confused and worried. He said he accepted the terms from the moment he signed up. Now the platform suddenly “forced” him to accept the new terms, making him think “whether there will be any content installed that is detrimental to users.” When he clicked to decline, he was informed that his account would be “deleted in 45 days if he does not change his mind”.

“I will use this time to try another messaging application. If it doesn’t work, I will find a way to accept it,” Mr. Tuan said.

With more than 80 million users, Zalo is currently the most popular messaging platform in Vietnam. The terms of service on the mobile application began to be updated from December 26, including the Zalo Use Agreement (16 articles) and the Zalo Social Network Use Agreement (21 articles). Users can click Agree to all, or go to each service to refuse.

Zalo’s move quickly became a topic of discussion on many Facebook groups, mainly related to how the update made them passive.

“I don’t object, but the announcement was quite sudden. Reading through the content was long and difficult to understand, accompanied by an account lock warning, it felt like I was being forced,” commented Thanh Van, owner of an online store. She took a screenshot and sent it to her friends to ask for their opinions. Some advised “agree and get it over with”, while others considered gradually switching to another platform.

In fact, updating terms is not new to Zalo. In previous versions, the platform also clearly stated “the right to modify or supplement any or all of the content of the agreement at any time without prior notice or prior consent of the user”.

For many years, Zalo has been making adjustments silently. For example, in 2024, they will add content related to basic personal data and sensitive personal data after Decree 13 on Personal Data Protection takes effect.

The difference this time lies in some new concepts, terms and especially the implementation method. Instead of just silently updating like before, the platform proactively displays notifications directly in the app, asking users to accept to continue using.

An expert in the field of cybersecurity said Zalo’s move may be related to the Law on Personal Data Protection, passed in June and effective from January 1, 2026.

According to the Law, the consent of the personal data subject must ensure the following principles: Expressing consent for each purpose; Must not include conditions requiring agreement for purposes other than the content of the agreement; The consent is valid until the personal data subject changes that consent or as required by law. Additionally, when a user is silent or does not respond, it will “not be considered consent”.

The law also stipulates penalties, in which the maximum fine for administrative violations for buying and selling personal data is 10 times the revenue earned from the violation. The maximum fine in administrative sanctions for organizations that violate regulations on cross-border transfer of personal data is 5% of that organization’s revenue of the immediately preceding year.

Zalo representative did not comment on this. However, on the support website, the platform explains that updating the terms “is a common activity for all applications and technology platforms in the world to ensure compliance with legal regulations and provide clear information to users about changes in the service provision process”.

Making the announcement, according to Zalo, is to “ensure transparency in system activities and protect user rights”. When there are changes that need to be notified related to the services provided, users can receive information appropriate to each case in channels such as in-app notifications, Zalo Help, OA, Zalo Email…

However, in the new terms, they also state “users are responsible for regularly reviewing and reviewing modified content”. Continued use after modification is determined as “accepted”.

What changes in Zalo’s new terms?

One of the prominent changes is the distinction between the messaging and calling platform and the Zalo social network, instead of calling it “Zalo ecosystem” as before. According to the introduction, the Zalo social network is provided by VNG Online company on Zalo so that individuals and organizations can share information.

Zalo social network also added the definition of “user content”, which is content such as text, images, and sounds that users upload to the social network. The terms clearly state that users will agree to let VNG Online use, edit, compile, publish, and create derivative products from content provided or publicly shared by users.

In addition, Zalo ID appears in the terms, which is defined as “a technology solution provided by Zalo Platform to establish and enhance security, information security, login management and ensure seamless user activity on Zalo, in which Zalo ID is the account to log into the service”.

“After the user confirms their agreement to the agreement and we complete the integration of Zalo ID, the user understands that they can only use their Zalo ID account to use the service,” the announcement reads.

With the collection and processing of data, Zalo also said “to serve other purposes related to Zalo’s business activities that we consider appropriate at each time”.