The difference between 1984 and real life is that plenty of us are actually for it and actively pursuing it in many a case.
If you'd told George Orwell that he would've tossed his cookies.
As for 'volunteering'
I have encountered 2 types of thinking.
1. I dont care , let them steal my data, i dont have anything to hide. Possibly they would change their minds if they knew what exactly Whatsapp will be doing with their conversations in future.
2. They simply dont know, they are not aware of the extent and what they are doing with the data. I feel that there are many who think that data stealing is not that real. This is why I think that we need to inform others about this topic.