The ministry of electronics and information and facts technologies (MeitY) has shot off a second missive to well-liked messaging platform WhatsApp to roll back its new privacy policy, implemented with impact from May 15, or face action below the country’s laws.
The notice, sent on May 18, has offered WhatsApp seven days to respond, and if the government does not acquire any satisfactory response till then, it will initiate action in consonance with the laws.
The simple objection of the government remains the very same: the modifications to the privacy policy and the manner of introducing them, such as in FAQ, undermines the “sacrosanct values of informational privacy, data security and user choice for Indian users and harms the rights and interests of Indian citizens”.
Earlier, on January 19, the government had written a strongly worded letter to WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart warning against going ahead with the new privacy policy, stating that it is unilateral, unfair and unacceptable adjust. It had then also raised objections relating to the differential therapy accorded by WhatsApp to its customers in India compared with these in the European Union.
The platform, which had earlier planned to roll out the new policy from February 8, had subsequently deferred its implementation to May 15. Though the new privacy policy has been implemented by WhatsApp, which seeks to share industrial user information with parent Facebook, it has mentioned the accounts of these customers who do not accept the new terms and situations, will not be deleted for the time becoming. However, MeitY in its second notice has stated that such deferral beyond May 15, “does not absolve WhatsApp from respecting the values of informational privacy, data security and user choice for Indian users”.
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“As you are doubtlessly aware, many Indian citizens depend on WhatsApp to communicate in everyday life. It is not just problematic, but also irresponsible, for WhatsApp to leverage this position to impose unfair terms and conditions on Indian users, particularly those that discriminate against Indian users vis-a-vis users in Europe,” MeitY has communicated in the notice.
The new policy has also been challenged in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court exactly where the matter is sub judice. However, the courts have not stayed its implementation.
In a late evening statement, WhatsApp mentioned, “We continue to engage with the government and we reaffirm what we said before that this update does not impact the privacy of personal messages for anyone. Our goal is to provide information about new options we are building that people will have, to message a business on WhatsApp, in the future. While the majority of users who have received the new terms of service have accepted them, we appreciate some people haven’t had the chance to do so yet”.
It mentioned no accounts had been deleted on May 15 since of this update and no one in India lost functionality of WhatsApp either. “We will comply with up with reminders to persons more than the next various weeks.We’re grateful for the significant part WhatsApp plays in people’s lives and we’ll take every single oppo
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