New Delhi: The government has once again directed Facebook Inc.-owned WhatsApp to withdraw its new privacy policy that came into effect on May 15.
The Ministry of Electronics & IT has shot off a second letter to the world’s largest messaging app, and sought a response within a week. If no satisfactory response is received, then the necessary steps in consonance with law will be taken, sources said. “The Government of India will consider various options available to it under laws in India,” they said.
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The government has in the second letter maintained its stance that the new WhatsApp privacy policy is discriminatory as users of the messaging app in Europe get the option to opt out of the policy but Indian users don’t. WhatsApp had earlier said that while it will not immediately delete accounts that don’t accept the privacy policy, it will slowly start limiting features accessible to them.
“The changes to the WhatsApp privacy policy and the manner of introducing these changes including in FAQ undermines ‘the sacrosanct values of informational privacy, data security and user choice for Indian users and harms the rights and interests of Indian citizens,” official sources told The Economic Times.
WhatsApp had deferred from February to May the implementation of its contentious privacy policy—which entails sharing of significantly more data with parent Facebook. The ministry, however, has stated that the deferral does not absolve WhatsApp from respecting “the values of informational privacy, data security and user choice for Indian users”.
On Monday, the government told the Delhi High Court that Whatsapp’s updated privacy policy goes against India’s IT laws and rules.
During the hearing, the Centre said that the policy was in violation of Indian IT laws and rules. It said it has written to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the issue and a reply is awaited and therefore, there was a need to maintain status quo with regard to implementation of the policy.
WhatsApp, opposing the contention, said it was conforming to Indian IT law and rules and added that its policy has come into effect from May 15, but it won’t be deleting accounts rightaway.
