Privacy row: India writes to Whatsapp on user data
FIRM DEFERS POLICY UPDATE TO MAY AFTER FURORE OVER HOW INFORMATION IS SHARED WITH FACEBOOK
INDIA’S technology ministry has asked WhatsApp to withdraw changes to its privacy policy the messenger announced this month, saying the new terms take away choice from Indian users.
The demand creates a new headache for WhatsApp and its US parent Facebook, which have placed big bets on the south Asian nation to expand their payments and other businesses.
“The proposed changes raise grave concerns regarding the implications for the choice and autonomy of Indian citizens,” the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology wrote in an email to WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart dated January 18.
“Therefore, you are called upon to withdraw the proposed changes,” the ministry wrote in the letter seen by Reuters.
California-based Facebook invested $5.7 billion (£4bn) last year in the digital unit of Indian conglomerate Reliance with a huge part of that aimed at drawing in tens of millions of traditional shop owners to use digital payments via WhatsApp. With 400 million users in India, WhatsApp has big plans for India’s growing digital payments space, including selling health insurance via partners.
Those aspirations could take a hit if Indians switch to rival messengers such as Signal and Telegram, downloads of which have surged after WhatsApp said on January 4 it could share limited user data with Facebook and its group firms.
It is of “great concern” that Indian users have not been given the choice to opt out of this data sharing with Facebook companies and are being given less choice compared to the app’s European users, the tech ministry letter said.
“This differential and discriminatory treatment of Indian and European users is attracting serious criticism and betrays a lack of respect for the rights and interest of Indian citizens who form a substantial
portion of WhatsApp’s user base,” it said.
The ministry asked WhatsApp to respond to 14 questions including on the categories of user data it collected, whether it profiled customers based on usage and cross-border data flows.
WhatsApp did not respond to a request for comment but has previously said the update to its privacy policy did not affect the privacy of users’ messages with friends, family and in groups.
The company said last week it would delay the new policy launch to May from February, after facing criticism from users in India and elsewhere to the new terms. “We’ve heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update,” WhatsApp said in a blog post.
“This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook.”
It said it would instead “go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.”
The update concerns how merchants using WhatsApp to chat with customers can share data with
Facebook, which could use the information for targeted ads, according to the social network.
“We can’t see your private messages or hear your calls, and neither can Facebook,” WhatsApp said in an earlier blog post. “We don’t keep logs of who everyone is messaging or calling. We can’t see your shared location and neither can Facebook.”
Location data along with message contents is encrypted end-to-end, according to WhatsApp.
“We’re giving businesses the option to use secure hosting services from Facebook to manage WhatsApp chats with their customers, answer questions, and send helpful information like purchase receipts,” WhatsApp said in a post. “Whether you communicate with a business by phone, email, or WhatsApp, it can see what you’re saying and may use that information for its own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook.”
WhatsApp has launched a media advertising campaign in India to calm worried users. The update to the privacy policy has also resulted in two legal petitions in Indian courts. (Agencies)