- The Indian government has reportedly asked WhatsApp to withdraw its recent policy changes.
- WhatsApp has been asked to reconsider data protection, freedom of choice and data security.
- The IT ministry apparently conveyed the message in a "strongly worded" letter.
WhatsApp may run full-page ads in Indian newspapers to justify recent changes to privacy policy, but the Indian government is ignoring such assurances.
According to the Press Trust of India (via Gadgets360) has asked the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) WhatsApp to withdraw the proposed changes to its privacy policy.
The messaging platform has already delayed the implementation of the new terms. However, with this unusual intervention by the Indian government, we could see that Facebook's own service completely rolled back the changes.
The ministry reportedly wrote a strongly worded letter to WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart urging the company to reconsider privacy, freedom of choice and data security.
"Unilateral changes to the WhatsApp terms of use and data protection would not be fair and acceptable," the letter said.
also read: How to delete a WhatsApp account
The MeitY letter, which appears to be more of a request than a strict policy, was issued the day after the Delhi Supreme Court responded to a petition saying WhatsApp's new privacy policy was a "voluntary" matter that people cannot accept.
"Even Google Maps collects and stores all of your data," the court said.
WhatsApp doesn't give a word confirming the government's request. However, if it accepts the request, it will be the first such rollback in India, potentially setting a precedent for all other social media networks and the entire tech industry.
