On January 21, a parliamentary panel on information technology questioned WhatsApp representatives about the recently proposed changes to the privacy policy.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology asked WhatsApp to withdraw its privacy policy. It is said that the new terms and conditions deprive the choice of the Indian users.
The change in WhatsApp’s privacy terms, which required users to share their data with Facebook and Instagram, has led to several users switching to other messaging apps like Signal.
In the midst of it all, a post on social media has gone viral making several staggering allegations related to WhatsApp’s new terms. It talks about a new set of communication rules, allegedly issued by WhatsApp.
According to one of these rules, WhatsApp will now record and store all the calls made by users. The message also reads that the government will now monitor WhatsApp conversations and that any ‘anti-government’ message could lead to legal action.
The archived version of this post can be seen here.
Many Facebook users have shared this post.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that the viral list of new WhatsApp communication guidelines was fictitious and not issued by WhatsApp. It is true that WhatsApp collects a significant amount of user data.
AFWA investigation
Let’s look at the three most important claims of the virus list one by one.
Claim 1: WhatsApp will record and save all calls now.
Truth: WhatsApp has made it clear in the FAQ section of its blog that it cannot see user messages and also cannot hear their calls.
We did not find any media report about recording and storing user calls on WhatsApp. It would have made headlines and every media outlet published reports about it.
It is true that WhatsApp does collect a significant amount of user data to track its users.
On Apple devices, it is mandatory for each app to tell users what data points they are collecting.
WhatsApp collects the following information from iPhone and presumably Android users.
India Today also recently published a detailed report on the user data collected by WhatsApp.
Claim 2: You can not share anything on WhatsApp against the government.
Truth: Neither the government nor WhatsApp has issued such a guideline.
Although the government of Bihar recently stated that the offensive social media content is being posted against the state government, its ministers, officials, MPs and members of the Legislative Assembly will now be considered a crime.
Claim 3: WhatsApp has introduced new ticks indicating government oversight.
Truth: The Press Information Bureau refuted this WhatsApp surveillance claim in April 2020. However, there are several media reports talking about the government’s efforts to set up a social media communications hub to monitor online data.
#False News alert!
Messages spread on social media with the message ‘WhatsApp tick information’ is #FALL.# PIBFactCheck : None! The Government does nothing like that. The message is #FALL.
Beware of rumors! pic.twitter.com/GAGEnbOLdY
– PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) 7 April 2020
According to a report published in the Indian Express, a Central Public Sector (CPSE) under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has put out a tender to invite offers for the monitoring of various channels on digital and social media. It can give a complete picture of the customer’s behavior ‘by drawing data from their social media networks.
WhatsApp Privacy Policy: Top Concerns
Following the huge criticism of the new privacy policy update, WhatsApp has issued an explanation that it provides end-to-end encryption to its users.
We want to address some rumors and be 100% clear. We still protect your private messages with end-to-end encryption. pic.twitter.com/6qDnzQ98MP
– WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) 12 January 2021
It also has his new privacy policy postponed launch until May.
According to an article published in Firstpost, the collection of metadata is a major concern in WhatsApp’s new privacy policy, ie almost everything regarding a message except the ‘content’ of the message.
WhatsApp collects diverse information like contacts, location details, financial details, unique identifications of phones. This collected metadata can then be linked to your individual identity and used to compile a complete profile of it.
Message traceability requests by the government
The Indian government has requested WhatsApp several times in the past to trace the origin of specific messages. This happened after a series of incidents in the country in which mob lynchings took place in which WhatsApp was used to spread hate rumors.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the Economic Times in 2018: “The company (WhatsApp) must find solutions to deal with sinister developments such as mob lynching and revenge porn and must follow Indian law”.
According to a report published in the Business Insider in 2019, the Indian government has asked WhatsApp to allow the government to track the origin of a particular message without having access to the content of the message itself.
In the past, there have also been several cases where the rumors about WhatsApp on the internet have gone viral. In the month of July last year, India Today discouraged one such joke that said WhatsApp is launching a video called “Martinelli” that will unlock one’s phone when opened.
Although WhatsApp privacy issues can not be completely ruled out, the guidelines in the viral message are unfounded.
ClaimWhatsapp will now record the calls of its users. In addition, the government will monitor Whatsapp conversations and sending any ‘anti-government’ message could lead to legal action. ClosureNeither WhatsApp nor the government has issued such guidelines. In Bihar, however, it would now be considered a crime to post anything offensive against the government on social media.
JHOOTH BOLE KAUVA KAATE
The number of crows determines the intensity of the lie.
- 1 Crow: Half true
- 2 crows: mostly lies
- 3 crows: absolutely false
