Whatsapp New Privacy Policy

What is the news?

• Center has asked WhatsApp to withdraw the proposed changes to its privacy policy, stating that it raised “grave concerns” over the implications of the choice and autonomy of Indian citizens.
• The government pointed out that by not giving the option to opt-out of data-sharing with Facebook companies, Indian users were being treated differently from those in Europe.
• Whether this [the new policy] will enable better provision of service to users or not is beside the point, the issue is the impact it has on informational privacy, data security and user choice.
• The government also asked the Facebook-owned platform to reconsider its approach to respect the informational privacy, freedom of choice and data security of Indian citizens.
• “The privacy policy offered by WhatsApp to its European users specifically prohibits the use of any information shared with a Facebook company for that company’s own purposes, while this clause is not present in the privacy policy offered to Indian users. This differential and discriminatory treatment of Indian and European users is attracting serious criticism and betrays a lack of respect for the rights and interests of Indian citizens, who form a substantial portion of WhatsApp’s user base,” it said.

What is the new Privacy Policy of Whatsapp?

• WhatsApp has updated its terms of service and privacy policy for users in India. Users have till February 8, 2021 to accept these in order to continue using the platform.
• The messages on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted which means nobody can see your messages or share it with anyone.
• When users rely on third-party services or other Facebook Company Products that are integrated with our Services, those third-party services may receive information about what you or others share with them.
• WhatsApp collects hardware information from devices such as battery level, signal strength, app version, browser information, mobile network, and connection information (including phone number, mobile operator or ISP) among others.
• If someone only deletes the WhatsApp app from their device without using the in-app delete my account feature, then that user’s information will remain stored with the platform.
• WhatsApp mentions that it uses Facebook’s global infrastructure and data centers including those in the United States to store user data. It also states that the data in some cases will be transferred to the United States or other parts where Facebook’s affiliate companies are based.
• Even if a user does not use their location-relation features, Whatsapp collects IP addresses and other information like phone number area codes to estimate your general location (city, country).
• WhatsApp says that any businesses that users interact with may provide the platform with information as well. The content shared with a business on WhatsApp will be visible to several people in that business.
• WhatsApp says that if anyone uses their payments services they will process additional information about you, including payment account and transaction information.