Paytm wants to enter the instant messenger space. WhatsApp wishes to become an online payment centre. These ambitions are understandable because Chinese giant WeChat offers both these facilities.
Consider the privacy implications. What does PayTM know about its users? It has details about their financial profiles. It has links to bank accounts and to debit cards and credit cards. It knows phone numbers. If the user does a KYC, PayTM has the Aadhaar details as well. Paytm can, therefore, infer a great deal about consumption patterns.
Now, what does WhatsApp know its users’ profiles? It knows the users’ phone numbers; it knows their
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