The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has demanded a ban on WhatsApp and Facebook over its privacy policies.
WhatsApp has updated its new privacy policy and placed a notification saying that the users have to accept its new terms and conditions.
According to the new update which will come into effect from February 8, 2021. Users will need to accept these terms and changes in order to keep using their WhatsApp accounts after February 8.
The CAIT on Sunday wrote to Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad demanding that the government restrict WhatsApp from implementing its new privacy policy or impose a ban on the messaging app and its parent company Facebook.
The CAIT in their letter claimed that through the new privacy policy, “all kinds of personal data, payment transactions, contacts, location and other vital information of a person who is using WhatsApp will be acquired by it and can be used for any purpose by WhatsApp”.
According to news agency PTI, the traders’ body has demanded that “government should immediately restrict WhatsApp from implementing the new policy or put a ban on WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook”.
“The changed privacy policy of WhatsApp is an encroachment on privacy of an individual and runs against the basic fundamentals of Constitution of India and therefore the CAIT has demanded immediate intervention of the government,” CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal was quoted as saying by PTI.
However, the messaging app WhatsApp in a statement said that its data-sharing practices with Facebook will not impact how users communicate with each other.
“To further increase transparency, we updated the privacy policy to describe that going forward businesses can choose to receive secure hosting services from our parent company Facebook to help manage their communications with their customers on WhatsApp. Though of course, it remains up to the user whether or not they want to message with a business on WhatsApp,” a WhatsApp spokesperson was quoted as saying by PTI.
“WhatsApp remains deeply committed to protecting people’s privacy. We are communicating directly with users through WhatsApp about these changes so they have time to review the new policy over the course of the next month,” the spokesperson further said.
(With PTI Inputs)
Also Read | Indonesian Flight With 62 Onboard Crashes After Take-Off