WhatsApp Privacy Case

WhatsApp's new Safety Overview feature alerts users when joining an unknown group chat and offers key details, allowing users to make an informed choice

WhatsApp is reportedly rolling out new ad formats: Status Ads and Promoted Channels (in beta) for iOS users, showing ads in the Updates tab of the app

A police think tank that functions under the union home ministry has issued an advisory and alert against a variety of scams that take place on popular social media messaging platform WhatsApp leading to cyber crimes and financial frauds. The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) has identified seven types of such frauds that includes tricking through missed calls, video calls, in the name of job offers and investment plans, impersonation, hijacking and screen share. As part of the 'hijacking' scam, the eight page advisory-cum-alert said, the scammers take unauthorised access to the victim's WhatsApp (WA) account and request money from their contacts. "Some people also witnessed WhatsApp video calls from unknown numbers. These were basically sextortion-based nude video calls which were then used to threaten the user." "The hackers blackmail the user and ask for money in return," the BPRD said in the communication accessed by PTI. The BPRD is a think tank on policing ...

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the Centre would investigate a claim that WhatsApp accessed a user's microphone without his knowledge

Never share your WhatsApp SMS verification code with others, not even family or friends

The Delhi High Court has held that WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy places its users in a "take it or leave it" situation, virtually forcing them into an agreement by providing a mirage of choices and then sharing their data with its parent company Facebook. The high court's verdict came while dismissing appeals of WhatsApp and Facebook against an order rejecting their challenge to a probe ordered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) into the instant messaging platform's updated privacy policy of 2021. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said the single judge's April 22, 2021 order was well-reasoned and the appeals are devoid of merit and substance that would warrant the interference of this court. While the judgement was pronounced by the division bench on Thursday, it was uploaded on the court's website on Friday. The high court noted that the instant messaging platform, WhatsApp, occupies a dominant position in the market for OTT .

Platform will allow stealth mode and prevent screenshots of 'view once' messages

Meta-owned WhatsApp on Friday said that it banned over 19 lakh bad accounts in India in the month of May in compliance with the new IT Rules 2021.

The pleas have challenged the new rules on the grounds that they violate the right to privacy and are unconstitutional

Govt must move fast on personal data protection law

A vacation bench of Justices Anup Jairam Bhambhani and Jasmeet Singh said it will pass an order on the application

"We will not limit the functionality of how WhatsApp works in the coming weeks," ANI quoted a WhatsApp spokesperson as saying.

In the name of a responsible internet, several will be eager to abet the government in soft censorship.

Listen to this podcast to understand India's new digital rules and social media companies' take on the issue

WhatsApp has said that its users will not immediately lose their accounts or face curtailed functionalities on the platform on May 15, but they will have to eventually go through limited functions

The Delhi High Court asked the Centre and social media platforms Facebook and WhatsApp to reply to a PIL challenging the new privacy policy of the instant messaging app

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought response of the Centre and social media platforms Facebook and WhatsApp on a PIL challenging the new privacy policy of the messaging app

CCI said that with no fear of erosion of its userbase, Facebook-owned WhatsApp was in a position to compromise quality in terms of protection of individualised data

The feature is still under development and there is no release date available as of now, said the WABetaInfo in a post published on Twitter

It seems users were only being coquettish in looking for an alternative; they never actually dumped the app