Indian Government asks WhatsApp to review its proposed privacy policy changes: Report

WhatsApp, a popular instant messaging app owned by Facebook, has faced criticism for its new privacy policy. The Indian Government has urged WhatsApp to review its policy and ensure the privacy of its users. Sanjay Dhotre, the Minister of State for IT and Communication, has conveyed this message to WhatsApp in Lok Sabha. He has also asked WhatsApp to modify its policy according to the Indian laws and regulations.

WhatsApp and Indian Government

Sanjay Dhotre, the Minister of State for IT and Communication, has also submitted a written reply in Lok Sabha. In his reply, he has confirmed that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) knows about WhatsApp’s new privacy policy for its users in India. MeitY has requested WhatsApp to revise its policy and respect the privacy of its Indian users. MeitY has also demanded WhatsApp to clarify its stance on this issue. Also Read – WhatsApp stops support for all devices running iOS 9

WhatsApp New Privacy Policy

WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned instant messaging app, announced its new privacy policy earlier this year. The new policy required its users to accept the terms and conditions to continue using the service. However, WhatsApp faced a lot of backlash and criticism from users and Indian Government over its policy changes. As a result, WhatsApp postponed the deadline for accepting the policy from February 8th to May 15th.

All this rescheduling happens because of a massive surge in global criticism of WhatsApp over it’s new policy changes. WhatsApp also issued a public statement to address the confusion and misinformation about its user privacy and security. Furthermore, WhatsApp has also tried to answer all the misconception from the Indian Government. The instant messaging service states that the delay was announce to clear up any misinformation. They added that many misinformation has been floating around user privacy and security.

• WhatsApp Clarification

WhatsApp, the instant messaging app owned by Facebook, has clarified its stance on user privacy and security. The company has issued several statements to assure its users that their private messages and calls are not accessible to WhatsApp or Facebook. Furthermore, the company has stated that all the conversations are end-to-end encrypted as before.

The company has also explained that it will only collect data from the users who interact with business accounts. This data will be used to show them relevant ads. WhatsApp has affirmed that this policy is in accordance with the Indian Government law and has been in place since 2016.

• Indian Government writes letter to WhatsApp

PTI, a leading news agency in India, has reported on the WhatsApp privacy policy issue. PTI has revealed that MeitY, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has written a stern letter to Will Cathcart, the CEO of WhatsApp. The letter has expressed the Government’s concern over the new privacy policy and its impact on the Indian users. The letter has also urged WhatsApp to review its policy and respect the information privacy, choice and data security of its users. PTI has obtained this information from its sources about rift between Indian Government and WhatsApp.