WhatsApp is moving forward with its policy yet again which received a lot of backlash a few months ago and the pop up for updates is appearing back again on the user accounts.
Back in January, users started receiving pop up notifications from WhatsApp about the new update policies, among which one policy stated that the tech giant will now be sharing the user data from WhatsApp with its parent company Facebook. This caused an uproar among the people who believed that their WhatsApp info, including the content of their private message threads, would be shared with Zuck and Co. direct and many switched to other form of online messaging applications, like Signal and Telegram both of which climbed on the top of the charts that week.
However, this information was not entirely true and was misinterpreted by the public among the chaos that occurred. However, Facebook at that time, in order to calm the situation down published a full-page newspaper ads explaining the update in India's major dailies and also said that they are taking their decision back for some time for reconsideration.
Now, the policy is back again with many WhatsApp users receiving the pop up notification again but in detail and easier wordings this time explaining it to the public the data which will be shared from WhatsApp to Facebook will entirely be related to business interactions in WhatsApp.
But there is a twist to this, WhatsApp has also declared that those users who fail to accept their new policy not be able to use the application and according to some reports WhatsApp has also announced a new date for accepting the policies in specific countries like Germany and Argentina where users have to accept the policy before June 19th, else they will not be able to use the application.
While this new policy is not highly controversial it still has made people feel unsure about the application and hence in response to this India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), has requested Facebook to take back their decision or they will be foreseeing a ban of both the applications from the Indian Region.
Facebook issued this policy on WhatsApp so that they can facilitate WhatsApp's growing business offerings in the region. If Facebook can transform WhatsApp into the key app for a wide range of functions among Indian users, including ecommerce and other business transactions, that will position the company for huge growth in the rapidly expanding Indian tech sector, and facilitate direct monetization of WhatsApp for the first time.
However, India is WhatsApp biggest user market with 459 million active users on the platform from the country and if the government issues a ban on their platform within the Indian region it will be a huge loss for WhatsApp. Hence, Facebook needs to come up with another plan or shift to monetization because with the Indian government forcing Facebook to reconsider its decision it is going to be a headache at the HQ in the USA.
Apart from the Indian region, the German officials have also condemned against the new privacy policy and the German regulators are seeking an EU-wide ban via the European Data Protection Board, which could mean that the change has to be dropped in Europe either way, which would further dent Facebook's planned evolution as a result of the change.
Though Facebook has again and again explained that this update does not relate to information shared in private message threads, and does not compromise WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption but the users are concerned and along with all those bans being implemented users in many regions are moving to other forms of online messaging application which can be a huge blow to the tech giant.
However, this was likely to happen because when you create a platform which assures its users privacy along with the guarantee that they can share anything with their friends and family without the fear of an external force watching and then you fall off from your own promises, people do retaliate.
Sources: TNW / WABI.
Read next: WhatsApp Has Finally Rolled Out The “New Archive” Feature and The Wishes of Its Users Are Coming True
Back in January, users started receiving pop up notifications from WhatsApp about the new update policies, among which one policy stated that the tech giant will now be sharing the user data from WhatsApp with its parent company Facebook. This caused an uproar among the people who believed that their WhatsApp info, including the content of their private message threads, would be shared with Zuck and Co. direct and many switched to other form of online messaging applications, like Signal and Telegram both of which climbed on the top of the charts that week.
However, this information was not entirely true and was misinterpreted by the public among the chaos that occurred. However, Facebook at that time, in order to calm the situation down published a full-page newspaper ads explaining the update in India's major dailies and also said that they are taking their decision back for some time for reconsideration.
Now, the policy is back again with many WhatsApp users receiving the pop up notification again but in detail and easier wordings this time explaining it to the public the data which will be shared from WhatsApp to Facebook will entirely be related to business interactions in WhatsApp.
But there is a twist to this, WhatsApp has also declared that those users who fail to accept their new policy not be able to use the application and according to some reports WhatsApp has also announced a new date for accepting the policies in specific countries like Germany and Argentina where users have to accept the policy before June 19th, else they will not be able to use the application.
While this new policy is not highly controversial it still has made people feel unsure about the application and hence in response to this India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), has requested Facebook to take back their decision or they will be foreseeing a ban of both the applications from the Indian Region.
Facebook issued this policy on WhatsApp so that they can facilitate WhatsApp's growing business offerings in the region. If Facebook can transform WhatsApp into the key app for a wide range of functions among Indian users, including ecommerce and other business transactions, that will position the company for huge growth in the rapidly expanding Indian tech sector, and facilitate direct monetization of WhatsApp for the first time.
However, India is WhatsApp biggest user market with 459 million active users on the platform from the country and if the government issues a ban on their platform within the Indian region it will be a huge loss for WhatsApp. Hence, Facebook needs to come up with another plan or shift to monetization because with the Indian government forcing Facebook to reconsider its decision it is going to be a headache at the HQ in the USA.
Apart from the Indian region, the German officials have also condemned against the new privacy policy and the German regulators are seeking an EU-wide ban via the European Data Protection Board, which could mean that the change has to be dropped in Europe either way, which would further dent Facebook's planned evolution as a result of the change.
Though Facebook has again and again explained that this update does not relate to information shared in private message threads, and does not compromise WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption but the users are concerned and along with all those bans being implemented users in many regions are moving to other forms of online messaging application which can be a huge blow to the tech giant.
However, this was likely to happen because when you create a platform which assures its users privacy along with the guarantee that they can share anything with their friends and family without the fear of an external force watching and then you fall off from your own promises, people do retaliate.
Sources: TNW / WABI.
Read next: WhatsApp Has Finally Rolled Out The “New Archive” Feature and The Wishes of Its Users Are Coming True
