Government issued notice to Meta
The central government has sought answers from Meta regarding the new ‘Username’ feature of WhatsApp. According to the information, the government has issued a notice to the company asking it to provide complete information related to this feature within three days. Additionally, Meta has been directed not to launch it for general users until the government completes a detailed review of the potential impacts of this feature.
This step has been taken at a time when the government is assessing what kind of impact the new feature can have on the security, identity and privacy of users.
What is the Username feature of WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is preparing to bring a new Username feature on its platform this year. Under this, users will be able to create a unique username for themselves and connect with other people without sharing their mobile number. Its purpose is to give people more privacy and provide the facility of conversation without sharing the number.
The company had earlier told that before the launch of the feature, users will also get a chance to reserve their favorite username. However, at present this facility is not publicly available.
What is the government worried about?
According to sources, the biggest concern of the government is about the misuse of this feature. Officials fear that if people can be contacted through usernames, then someone may try to mislead or defraud people by adopting someone else’s identity.
For this reason, the government wants to understand what security arrangements have been made by Meta to prevent such cases and how the identity of the users will be confirmed.
Decision will be taken after review
The government is currently investigating all the technical and security aspects of this feature. Officials say that all aspects related to user identity, data security, privacy and reliability of the platform will be evaluated.
Only after the review is completed, it will be decided whether WhatsApp’s Username feature should be allowed to be launched in India or some changes should be made in it. In such a situation, for now Meta will have to wait for the government to answer its questions and the review process to be completed.
