The WhatsApp messaging application is displayed on an Apple iPhone on May 14, 2019 in San Anselmo, California. Facebook’s messaging application, WhatsApp, has announced a cyber security breach that makes users vulnerable to installing spyware with iPhone and Android smartphones. WhatsApp encourages its 1.5 billion users to update the application as soon as possible.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
India’s technology ministry has asked Facebook-owned messaging giant WhatsApp to withdraw planned changes to its privacy policy, which have sparked widespread reactions, several media outlets reported.
In an email to the head of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, dates On January 18, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said the proposed changes raised “serious concerns” about the implications for the choice and autonomy of Indian citizens, Reuters reported.
The update specifically addresses features that allow users to interact with companies on WhatsApp.
The ministry reportedly expressed concern about the lack of choice that Indian users had in terms of giving up the planned updating of WhatsApp policy compared to those in Europe, where data protection rules are stricter. The Ministry of Technology has called it “discriminatory treatment” which “betrays a lack of respect for the rights and interests of Indian citizens.”
“Therefore, you are called to withdraw the proposed changes,” the ministry reportedly wrote, according to Reuters. The news network added that the ministry asked WhatsApp to answer 14 questions, including the type of user data it collected, whether it profiled users based on their usage habits and cross-border data flows.
CNBC could not independently verify the contents of the letters.
A WhatsApp spokesman told CNBC in a statement: “We want to strengthen the fact that this update does not extend our ability to share data with Facebook.”
“Our goal is to provide transparency and new options available to interact with companies so that they can serve their customers and grow. WhatsApp will always protect personal messages with end-to-end encryption, so that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook not to be able to see them, “the spokesman said.
What is the update about?
WhatsApp later said that the update will not change the end-to-end encryption of personal conversations, which means that the app and Facebook will no longer be able to see private messages. WhatsApp also said that it does not share people’s contacts with Facebook.
WhatsApp was supposed to start asking users on February 8 to accept these updated terms in order to continue using the app. Since then, the Facebook-owned app has said it will delay implementing the planned policy update until May 15, to give people more time to “review the policy at their own pace.”
India is a massive market for WhatsApp
India is one of the largest markets for WhatsApp, with over 400 million users. The company’s plans for the country extend beyond simple messaging – starting last year, users can send money through the app.
Whether it’s WhatsApp, Facebook or any other digital platform, you’re free to do business in India … but do it in a way that doesn’t affect Indian rights.
Ravi Shankar Prasad
Indian Minister of Technology
“It has become a platform for many things. Small businesses and corporations use WhatsApp to trade, pay and share payroll data,” said Abishur Prakash, a geopolitical specialist at the Center for Innovation of the Future (CIF), a Toronto-based consulting firm. CNBC said in an email. “This makes WhatsApp, an American service, a new type of infrastructure for doing business in India.”
The stakes for WhatsApp in India are very high, according to Prakash. He explained that there is a possibility that the messaging giant will change its policy “because of the strategic position that India holds in its strategy”.
When seen in terms of technology and data sovereignty, New Delhi wants to set its own data boundaries after pushing for an open data market in which large technology firms share information with Indian companies, Prakash said. “This makes the new WhatsApp policy contrary to the direction New Delhi is heading.”
On Tuesday, Indian Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had a few words of choice for Facebook, WhatsApp and other technology companies operating in the country.
“Whether it’s WhatsApp, Facebook or any other digital platform, you’re free to do business in India,” he said at a virtual event. “But do it in a way that doesn’t affect the rights of Indians operating there.”
“And the sanctity of personal communications must be maintained,” he added. “I know there will be pressure for data sharing (but), this is clearly unacceptable.”
– CNBC Arjun kharpal contributed to this report.