Withdraw the new privacy policy…

WhatsApp has once again lost regarding its privacy policy. The Facebook-owned company has been asked by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to withdraw its new privacy policy. The letter sent by the ministry to WhatsApp has also been seen by NDTV. In this letter the message has been given to the instant messaging app. According to which MeitY believes that the changes in WhatsApp’s privacy policy and the way it is implemented weakens the sacred values ​​of information privacy, data security and user wishes. This is going to violate the rights and interests of Indian citizens. The government has given 7 days time to WhatsApp to give its response regarding this letter. If no satisfactory response is received from WhatsApp, then necessary steps will be taken as per law, it is written in the letter.

In a May 18 communication to WhatsApp, the ministry had again asked the messaging platform to withdraw its 2021 privacy policy.

In this message, the government tried to draw WhatsApp’s attention to how its new privacy policy violates several provisions of existing Indian laws and regulations.

Fulfilling its sovereign responsibility to protect the rights and interests of Indian citizens, the Government will look at other options that fall within the ambit of Indian laws.

The Ministry has also strongly raised the issue of discriminatory treatment by WhatsApp between Indian users and European users. It says, “As you are well aware, many Indian citizens depend on WhatsApp in their daily lives for communication. It is not only questionable but also irresponsible that WhatsApp continues to enforce its unfair terms and conditions.” Take advantage of your position to enforce such rules, especially those that discriminate between European users and Indian users.”

It is also necessary to mention here that WhatsApp has been reprimanded several times for sharing data with its parent company Facebook. The letter also states that WhatsApp has officially postponed its new privacy policy till May 15, 2021.

However, the ministry says that suspending the policy does not exempt WhatsApp from respecting the information privacy, data security and user wishes of Indian users.

It also emphasizes that changes in the privacy policy and implementing these changes in the form of FAQs (frequently asked questions) violate the privacy of users’ information, data security and the wishes of the users.
The Ministry also put forth the same stand in the Delhi High Court, where the matter is under consideration and from where this letter has been issued.
Update – WhatsApp spoke to Tech News by Careers Ready and provided the following statement:
“We are constantly talking to the government about this and reaffirm the statement we have made previously that this update will not impact the privacy of any individual’s private messages.
Our goal is to make people aware of all the options we’re working on for business messaging on WhatsApp that people will have in the future. Majority of the people have also accepted the new rules of services. We encourage those who have not yet had the opportunity to do so. Neither any account has been deleted nor the functioning of WhatsApp has been affected on May 15. We will keep reminding people about this over the next few weeks. We are grateful that WhatsApp is playing such an important role in people’s lives. “We will continue to take advantage of these opportunities to tell people how we protect their private messages and confidential information.”