Withdraw new privacy policy, Whatsapp told
THE GOVT ASKED THE COMPANY TO RESPECT THE INFORMATIONAL PRIVACY AND DATA SECURITY OF INDIAN USERS
NEW DELHI: The Centre has asked Whatsapp to withdraw the latest changes to its privacy policy that have triggered boycott calls over the concerns linked to individuals’ personal data, saying that the “unilateral changes” in the terms are unfair and unacceptable.
Facebook-owned Whatsapp, which has about 400 million users in India, rolled out a new privacy policy recently that included mandatory sharing of data with its parent company. The users of the messenger app could previously opt out of sharing their data with Facebook. The tweak that proposes to take away this choice triggered a wide backlash, with users moving en masse to other messaging applications such as Signal and Telegram.
On January 16, Whatsapp delayed the introduction of the changes to its policy after backlash from Indian users.
In a letter dated January 18, the ministry of electronics and information technology told Whatsapp chief executive officer Will Cathcart that the proposed changes in the terms of service and privacy policy “raise grave concerns regarding the
implications for the choice and autonomy of Indian citizens”, according to a person familiar with the contents of the communication. It asked the messaging service to “respect the informational privacy and data security of Indian users” and withdraw the changes while reconsidering its approach to information privacy, freedom of choice and data security, the person added on condition of anonymity. HT reported on January 11 that the ministry was closely examining the policy. The government has also posed 14 questions to the messaging platform, asking it to disclose the exact categories of data that Whatsapp collects from Indian users, and to give details of the permissions and user consent sought by the app and the utility of each of these with respect to the functioning and specific services provided.
The letter sought details of the difference between Whatsapp privacy policies in other countries and India. Whatsapp did not immediately respond to a request for a comment on the government’s letter. The ministry has also highlighted that the latest policy will lead to the platform collecting “vast amount of highly invasive and granular metadata from their (users’) chats with business accounts and share it with other Facebook companies”. “With this, any meaningful distinction between Whatsapp and Facebook companies will cease to exist. Given the huge user base of Whatsapp and Facebook in India, the consolidation of this sensitive information also exposes a very large segment of Indian citizens to greater security risks and vulnerabilities creating a honeypot of information,” said the person.
The letter added that the “integration of data between Whatsapp and other Facebook companies” denies the user the choice to opt out of the policy.
“This ‘all or nothing’ approach takes away any meaningful choice from Indian users. This approach leverages the social significance of Whatsapp to force users into a bargain, which may infringe on their interests in relation to informational privacy and information security. It is expected that Facebook will value the principles of privacy and consent as laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in its judgment of Justice (Retd.) K.S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India (2017),” the person quoted above added. The government said that the Personal Data Protection Bill is being discussed by a joint committee of the Parliament and making “a momentous change for its Indian users at this time puts the cart before the horse.”
The parliamentary panel on information technology has also summoned Facebook officials in the wake of privacy concerns about Whatsapp, Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.
The ministry has also “raised strong objections against the differential treatment by Whatsapp to its users in India and in the European Union”. It has flagged the “differential and discriminatory treatment of Indian and European users is attracting serious criticism and shows lack of respect for the rights and interests of Indian citizens, who form one of the largest user bases for Whatsapp”. It added that such treatment is “prejudicial to the interests of Indian users...” Apar Gupta, trustee of the Internet Freedom Foundation, said: “The government’s decision is a step towards demanding accountability, which is a positive move. It, however, needs to be done in a transparent manner. We don’t know under which law this notice has been issued. That is concerning as in the past action has been taken pursuant to such notices.”