The controversy related to WhatsApp’s privacy policy has still not settled in India. The social media giant has said that it is scrapping the last date for the users in the country to accept the privacy policy. However, there will be certain functionalities that the users who don’t accept the said policy will lose. According to a PTI report, the MeitY Special Secretary and Financial Advisor Jyoti Arora said that the government is still looking at the problem carefully. Arora noted that Germany had banned WhatsApp’s privacy policy to keep its people’s data safe from the application’s parent company Facebook.
India Might Ban WhatsApp’s Privacy Policy as Well
Arora didn’t mention anything of the sort that the Indian government will also go ahead with banning WhatsApp’s privacy policy like Germany. However, we can’t rule out the possibility that it might happen if the government deems it that way. Right now India lacks a data policy like the one Europe has to keep its citizen’s data secure. If the government decides to come up with a policy like that soon, it might ban the forceful implementation of the privacy policy of WhatsApp outright. Arora said that the government is ‘pro-actively’ looking at what the next best step would be to keep the data of millions of Indians safe. WhatsApp recently said that it would not delete the accounts of the users on May 15 who don’t accept the new privacy policy of the app. However, the company will limit the functionalities of the app for the users. As per the statement of a spokesperson from WhatsApp, the users who fail to accept the new privacy policy will not be allowed to access their chat list. However, the users will still be able to receive calls (both video and voice), and also call back if they have a missed call. The spokesperson further said that at some point in the future, the company might completely stop the users from accessing any features of WhatsApp if they don’t accept the privacy policy of the company. This is a bold move from the social media giant because if it were to lose business in the Indian market, it will be a huge loss for the company.
