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India asks WhatsApp to withdraw new privacy policy, answer 14 questions

WhatsApp has rolled back the update deadline from February 8 to May after it faced a huge backlash

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The ministry has sought details of WhatsApp’s services in India, details of permissions and consent required by different versions of the app | Photo: Bloomberg

Neha Alawadhi New Delhi
India has asked WhatsApp to withdraw its new privacy policy, saying the Facebook-owned messaging platform’s proposed changes “make invasive and precise inferences about users”.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) asked WhatsApp to clarify issues related to its “privacy and data transfer and sharing policies, and general business practices” within seven days.

In an email addressed to WhatsApp’s global head Will Cathcart on Monday, the ministry said the proposed policy changes “will have a disproportionate impact on the Indian citizens”, given that India was WhatsApp’s largest user base with over 400 million of them.

The ministry has asked WhatsApp to answer

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