WhatsApp Delays Launch of New Privacy Policy
After weeks of criticism, WhatsApp has decided to delay the launch of their policies from February to May.
WhatsApp released its updated privacy policies and made it mandatory for users to accept these till 8th February. If users do not accept it then after 8th Feb they would not be able to use WhatsApp. People were extremely unhappy over this and were not comfortable with WhatsApps policies and felt that their data was not safe. WhatsApp has now said that, “We’ve heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update. There’s been a lot of misinformation causing concern and we want to help everyone understand the facts. WhatsApp said that because of this, they have decided to delay the launch of their policies from February to May. Soon after the company made the announcement, people on the internet started trolling WhatsApp. There were funny memes shared and some people said “it’s too late” as many have already moved onto Signal or Telegram. Others shared memes to poke fun at the brand as to how it got scared and decided to postpone the implementation. The Indian Central Government has written a letter to WhatsApp's Global CEO Will Cathcart. The centre has asked WhatsApp to withdraw any change in the messaging app's privacy policy for users in India.
The government has sent a list of 14 questions to WhatsApp on privacy and data security concerns. Some of the questions include asking WhatsApp to disclose the exact categories of data that it collects from users in India, the permissions sought by the app and how each of these would be used.
The Ministry has further asked WhatsApp as to why they have brought about such changes when the parliament of India is already considering the Personal Data Protection Bill.The Bill focuses on limiting companies access to data of civilians.This bill, which is at an advanced stage of consideration by the joint select committee of both houses of the parliament.
