Following the announcement of its controversial privacy policy change earlier this year, WhatsApp has faced a ton of criticism from users, rivals, and the government alike. The Indian government asked WhatsApp to withdraw its policy back in January this year. It didn’t at the time. But, with the policy going into effect on May 15, India has yet again directed the Facebook-owned messaging giant to not impose the planned update in the country.
According to a report by Techcrunch, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) sent a letter to WhatsApp today, directing it to withdraw the controversial privacy policy. The Ministry has offered WhatsApp seven days to come up with a “satisfactory” response for the letter.
“In fulfillment of its sovereign responsibility to protect the rights and interests of Indian citizens, the government of India will consider various options available to it under laws in India,” the letter reads.
If you are not living under a rock, then you might know that WhatsApp had plans to roll out the update much earlier on February 8. However, due to the backlash and loss of user trust, the company delayed the rollout to May 15. You can check out our in-depth video on WhatsApp’s evil plan to force users to accept the new policy right below to know more:
So, the current situation is that if you do not accept the privacy policy, WhatsApp will gradually start restricting access to some of the basic features, while reminding you to accept the policy. And if you accept it, the company will get complete authorization to share your personal info with its parent Facebook.
Moreover, the company recently argued that other apps such as Aarogya Setu, Zoom, and Truecaller collect more user data than WhatsApp. However, MeitY is now asking Whatsapp why the Indian users need to accept the policy when users in the European Union (EU) have been excused from it?
“It is not just problematic, but also irresponsible, for WhatsApp to leverage this position to impose unfair terms and conditions on Indian users, particularly those that discriminate against Indian users vis-à-vis users in Europe,” MeitY further wrote in the letter.
WhatsApp has seven days to come up with an appropriate response for the Indian government. And if they do not respond within the said time limit, the Ministry has warned that it will have to take lawful measures against the company.
