While trying to reassure the public after suspending its new privacy policies, WhatsApp has also been targeted by the Indian government. That’s because New Delhi officials have launched an offensive against Facebook – the app’s owner.
According to information released on Wednesday, India’s technology ministry wrote to Facebook and demanded that WhatsApp’s new privacy policies not be implemented. The text says:
the proposed changes raise serious concerns about Indian citizens’ power of choice and autonomy.
The petition also points out that users do not have the option to prevent the new term of service from being applied. That is, it is impossible to stop sharing sensitive data between WhatsApp and Facebook.
Another important detail is that Indian users have an even more limited choice when compared to Europeans. Therefore, the government wrote 14 questions that must be answered immediately by WhatsApp.
Commenting on the matter, the messenger defends himself saying that the update does not expand the existing data sharing with Facebook:
We are fighting the disinformation campaign. We want to reinforce that this update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook.
