India’s technology ministry has asked WhatsApp to withdraw changes to its privacy policy which the company had announced earlier . WhatsApp’s decision to make major changes in its privacy policies  had created uproar among the users and most of them were planning to move out of it. At this juncture the government has asked the company to withdraw its decision saying the new terms take away choice from Indian users.

The demand creates a new headache for WhatsApp and its U.S. parent Facebook, which have placed big bets on the South Asian nation to expand their payments and other businesses.

“The proposed changes raise grave concerns regarding the implications for the choice and autonomy of Indian citizens,” the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology wrote in an email to WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart . “Therefore, you are called upon to withdraw the proposed changes,” the ministry wrote in the letter seen by Reuters.

WhatsApp said in a statement it was working to address misinformation and remains available to answer any questions. “We wish to reinforce that this update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook,” it said.

Facebook had invested $5.7 billion last year in the digital unit of India’s Reliance industries aiming at drawing in tens of millions of traditional shop owners to use digital payments via WhatsApp.

With 400 million users in India, WhatsApp has big plans for the country’s growing digital payments space, including selling health insurance via partners.

Those aspirations could take a hit if Indians switch to rival messengers such as Signal and Telegram, downloads of which have surged after WhatsApp said  it could share limited user data with Facebook and its group firms.

It is of “great concern” that Indian users have not been given the choice to opt out of this data sharing with Facebook companies and they are being given less choice compared to the app’s European users, the tech ministry letter said.

Source- Reuters

Country- India