Late last week, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), filed a counter-petition in the Delhi High Court, asking to bar the hugely popular instant messaging platform, WhatsApp from implementing its disputable privacy policy update.
WhatsApp, a platform which once hailed for its uncompromising privacy policies, has, in recent years, and following its acquisition by Facebook Inc, introduced a series of privacy updates that analysts have contended, dilute a user’s autonomy over their information.
Until February though these updates have largely been in an opt-in/opt-out format but its latest planned update does away with that choice, with the company noting that those who didn’t accept the latest changes would be barred from using the messaging service.
WhatsApp has stated that it may permit “third-party services or other Facebook Company Products that are integrated with our Services” from accessing users’ information.
Amid concerns that the app was growing ever more quickly without securing voluntary user consent, what followed was a mass exit from the application, as thousands of users moved to other messaging platforms like Signal and Telegram. WhatsApp has since attempted to reassure users that their privacy was not being weakened, even going so far as to delay its update to May, but many remain unconvinced.
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