Brief Explanation on New WhatsApp Privacy Policy.
WhatsApp has always been one of the most trustworthy apps not just in India but all over the World. It has been frequently used by people of different age groups since the time it came in the market. About 400 Million people are using this application in India alone and when it comes to the whole world, then with 2B worldwide users WhatsApp stands at one of the top applications with maximum numbers of users.
A time when people were locked at their homes during the Lockdown period due to corona pandemic, it was WhatsApp which came for rescue. Be it sending school projects or any other official documents, everyone has used this app for sharing a thing or two at some point in their lives. Even users can now send and receive money using the new Payments on WhatsApp feature.
But, about just one week back, WhatsApp sent a notification to update the app and be agree with the new terms and policies by 8 February 2021 if a person wants to keep using the application. This whole account of New WhatsApp Privacy Policy has been the talk of the town. On Twitter and other social media platforms where users are not at all happy with these new privacy policies of the application are showing the rage.
The notification which has increased rage in people reads as follows “By tapping agree, you accept the new terms and privacy policy, which take effect on February 8, 2021. After this date, you will need to accept these updates to continue using WhatsApp. You can also visit the help center if you would prefer to delete your account and would like more information”
This app will remain end to end encrypted but it will share user’s data with third-party apps and Facebook-owned companies. As an end to end encryption would be there it means the company and other sources will not be able to read the messages sent by users.
But it will have an authority to get hands-on other information of users like IP address, battery level, financial information and few personal pieces of information while interacting with someone through the app.
It has also given a time frame till 8th of February 2021, to accept the revised privacy policies before the given timeframe. Many people getting this app’s update notification and accepting the new privacy policy doesn’t feel good. Users are not at all pleased by this step of enhancements in privacy policies. Instead, there is a rage among the people all over Twitter to switch the app. Most of the people are suggesting to use Signal or Telegram in the place of WhatsApp.
There is a need to keep this fact in mind that Signal and Telegram do not utilize the user’s information and data linked with users. While WhatsApp and Facebook use location, contacts information, financial information and other such information of users.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Company has also given his take on the Matter. By taking to the Twitter he encouraged the use of Signal app instead of WhatsApp. He twitted ”Use Signal” on 7th of January 2021, looking at the range of people regarding updated New WhatsApp policies.
The 3 concerns of New WhatsApp Privacy Policy includes:
- How the app will work on the processing of data and various services provided by it.
- How can app partner with Facebook offers integration across the Facebook.
- How business can use Facebook hosted services and processing of data.
Data which will be shared with other WhatsApp owned companies involves financial information, services related information, phone number, Signal strength, battery level and few other personal information while interacting with others using the WhatsApp Application.
It is notable that Facebook is a very well reputed company in India. 310 Million Facebook users are there in India only. Facebook has been showing keen interest in India by investing more and more and finding a scope for innovation.
India was the first country where Reels on Instagram was introduced by the Facebook-owned company, Instagram. Watch on Facebook was also in those some of the features which are introduced by Facebook exclusively in India only. And, now WhatsApp Commerce is also in such new options which company is trying to work on. But this somehow crossed the limit and that’s the reason it caused a ruckus.
Well, whatever the case be, but as being an aware citizen and careful user it must be taken into consideration that it is high time for Government to pass new privacy laws to protect individual rights of Indians. Right to safety and privacy is one among the fundamental rights of human beings.
And these new privacy policies of WhatsApp about sharing the data with other Facebook-owned companies is not appreciated by people and as a result, we can see people’s rage and anger on Twitter.
