Working on addressing misinformation on user policy replace, available to answer any query: WhatsApp

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A day after India asked it to withdraw changes to its privacy policy, WhatsApp on Wednesday mentioned the proposed change doesn’t broaden its skill to share user information with Facebook and that it’s open to answering questions on the problem.

The Indian authorities on Tuesday posed 14 questions to WhatsApp on its “invasive” adjustments in Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

“We want to reinforce that this replace doesn’t broaden our skill to share information with Facebook. Our goal is to present transparency and new choices available to interact with companies to allow them to serve their clients and develop,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that WhatsApp will always protect personal messages with end-to-end encryption, so that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can see them.

“We are working to tackle misinformation and stay available to answer any questions,” the spokesperson further stated.

In a strongly worded letter to WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has said the proposed changes to the WhatsApp Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, without giving users an option to opt-out, “raise grave considerations concerning the implications for the selection and autonomy of Indian residents”.

The letter noted that with over 400 million users in India, the changes will have a disproportionate impact on the country’s citizens, it said.

It has also asked WhatsApp to provide details of the services provided by it in India, categories of data collected and permissions and consents sought. It has also asked WhatsApp to withdraw the proposed changes and reconsider its approach to information privacy, freedom of choice and data security.

WhatsApp had earlier this month begun asking its 2 billion users worldwide to accept an update of its privacy policy if they want to keep using the popular messaging app. The new terms caused an outcry among technology experts, privacy advocates and users and triggered a wave of defections to rival services such as Signal and Telegram.

In the updated policy, it got a right to share data it collected from WhatsApp users with the broader Facebook network, which includes Instagram, regardless of owning any accounts or profiles there. Some businesses, as per the new policy, were to use Facebook-owned servers to store messages.

This triggered an outcry regardless of WhatsApp’s assertion that all private messages between friends and family members remain end-to-end encrypted.

WhatsApp had on January 16 Tags: datadata protectionencryptionfacebookITMeitymessaging appsprivacyprivacy policyright to privacysecuritysignaltelegramterms of servicewhatsapp