Communication has always been a key to connect and reach people round the globe, from cities to states and to nations we all are connected by the means of communication.
In the recent times the mode and definition of communication have changed drastically. The evolution of the internet and mobile phones has opened enormous gates for people to connect with their loved ones or the unknown one’s from all over the world just with a touch of a button.
In India one of the most widely used app for sending and receiving information by the means of texting or call is “WhatsApp”, we all are so used to it that it has become an inseparable part of our life.
In a latest notification released by WhatsApp, it has updated its privacy policy and has now decided to share some amount of the user data to its parent company Facebook.
In this notice they have mentioned that they will share the information like battery level, IP address, the browser that we use, connection information, mobile, network, transaction details and etc. with their parent company Facebook in order to enhance their company-user Relationship better and stronger.
The shared information will also help Facebook to generate advertisement on their application which will help them generate more and more income. They have also stated that the users have to give their consent till 8th February 2021 that whether they are up for it and they shall be eligible to use WhatsApp further. Those who do not agree with these new privacy policy, they would have to quit WhatsApp and their account will be deactivated and deleted automatically after 8th February 2021.
Insight To New Policy [1]
According to the new privacy policy, WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook will gain access to various user’s information; these are:
Battery information, users information such as the mobile number and account info, what operating system we use, user’s IP address, signal strength, app version, connection information (including phone number, mobile operator or ISP),mobile network, language and time zone, device operational information, and identifiers will be shared by WhatsApp and will be shared accordingly with Facebook, which means that two of the most used app by the general public will be sharing our information with each other’s databases.
WhatsApp has cleared the fact that user’s text messages and chats won’t be shared with Facebook and they’ll still be end to end encrypted as they were before, and no one shall have access to them.
WhatsApp will now allow businesses to expand their reach directly to its clients through WhatsApp. The users can now directly contact to business handles with WhatsApp as a medium to increase one’s reach and outlook.
The new privacy policy primarily focuses on business based interactions, various forms of transaction (as WhatsApp recently introduced it’s payment feature on its application), and features related to business and works which will allow Facebook and WhatsApp to help the third party service providers in a better and significant way while they provide a complete analytical approach and service to others.
WhatsApp has given 30 days to its users to decide that whether they agree with these terms and conditions of the new privacy policy. Closely looking at the terms of the new privacy policy we can say that if we go and accept the terms and conditions of the new privacy policy we are agreeing to share everything and anything we do on our phones and internet to WhatsApp and it’s parent Company Facebook, which has always been in various troubles and controversies for the same since a very long time.
The permission which are asked in order to enhance their “services” will simply give then access to everything we do from Calling to searching and to our location, Everything!! Only our messages will not be shared and they’ll be end to end encrypted for the users. Wow!
“Take it or Leave it”- The Issues
As discussed above, WhatsApp will give access to Facebook to everything we do online as it will have our IP address, our browser information and our network information too. We all know that how Facebook has always been under privacy leakage problems and how they have risked down a lot of personal data to companies for money. Now not only they are asking for all our personal information under the cover of “ Better Services” but also they are forcing us into their ways as and try to prove their dominant and powerful position in the market place.
According to the new policy if the users do not choose to accept the said terms and conditions of providing their personal information then they won’t be allowed to use WhatsApp from 8th February 2021, i.e. their account will be deleted automatically. Not only this, if they choose to opt out of the services of WhatsApp and they delete their account themselves then their old account information will not get erased instead it will still stay with Whatsapp and it’s parent company Facebook.
So technically they are not only invading our privacy but also they are one way or another forcing us into doing it or else we may choose to discontinue the service. The whole notification has “Take it or Leave it” attitude making the users helpless as the company is totally aware of the dependency of people on Whatsapp as a medium to do work and communicate. As a user of a smartphone and internet I totally believe the fact that I use WhatsApp to connect and talk with people who I know and I have given certain permissions to them as it is required for the functioning of the app and it’s my right that all my data and all my work I do online remains protected and no third party must have access to it any how.
The third party being the one which sells my data to other companies to produce ad and money through it. Also I don’t find any valid reasons to believe that how will such permissions will help them in providing me better Services? I totally against such practices as q totally violates my right to privacy! Way before the introduction of this policy, the older version of WhatsApp had the following line in its privacy policy section:
“Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA. Since we started WhatsApp, we’ve aspired to build our Services with a set of strong privacy principles in mind.”[2]
But now no such line can be seen in their privacy policy!! What does that mean?
Legal Implications and Issues
If we look down upon the current privacy policy one thing is natural that these companies will get a 360° access to all the persons online activity. In India if we had proper data regulation or proper laws in relation to data protection, then such implications have not been a problem for us.
Long time back a Section of Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced by the Parliament under the Srikrishna Committee Report that explicitly stated that one can only seek and use the information for which the purpose of the information is fulfilled and not any otherwise.
We can clearly see that if such law would have been there then the new WhatsApp’s privacy policy would have been held as illegal. For the very same reason the European Union is already safe from all these so called “Privacy Policy” as they have strict privacy laws to safeguard its citizens.
If we see India’s dearth in data protection law means that there exists no remedy in case someone’s data is misused or leaked anyhow, also this gives rise to antitrust issues as you are bound to be monitored on everything you do and everything you do is in someone’s database that is always at a risk to get compromised. Even though they say that they won’t use or interfere into our data, but if we see we all are under surveillance of a Facebook and other companies to whom they sell our data.
What Now? – The Conclusion
The internet has Always been and will always be risky, and that’s true and now as we all are now aware of what all constitutes in the new Privacy policy of WhatsApp, we can now think of what should be our next step as individuals and users of WhatsApp. For those who are ready to accept the fact and are completely fine with the fact that a company will be tracking them everywhere online as they will have access to their IP address, mobile, network, the browser we use and also the phone we use then they can go and continue using WhatsApp as they are right now, that’s totally your call. For those who are looking for a replacement or switch of apps, then for them there are various substitutes too. They can go to “Telegram”, which is a similar chatting application with features similar to WhatsApp but they have no end to end encryption facilities on normal chats but they have one on their “secret chat” option. Another alternative can be “Signal” app, it’s an app build by non profit organization with end to end encryption and it also have, a well designed privacy policy making it a better substitute for WhatsApp as it has the same and also better privacy policy (It won’t track you all around!!!). It’s not like that one cannot update its privacy policy in order to offer better services but what’s unjust is the forcing it’s user to agree to and make it a “leave it or take it” deal.
References:
1. Chetan Nayak, “WhatsApp privacy policy update: Don’t fall for these false claims” The Indian Express <https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/whatsapp-privacy-fake-claims-misinformation-busted-do-not-believe-these-false-myths-7140889/> accessed on 10 January 2021
2. Anumeha Chaturvedi “India Inc. cautions employees on WhatsApp privacy policy changes
“ The Economic Times https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/india-inc-cautions-employees-on-whatsapp-privacy-policy-changes/articleshow/80205646.cms Accessed on 11 January 2021
About the author –
This article is authored by Animesh Raizada, Second year law student at JEMTEC School of Law, (Greater Noida).
