Government looking into WhatsApp privacy policy changes: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Amid a user backlash over a new privacy policy of WhatsApp the Indian government on Tuesday said it is looking into the changes made by the popular messaging app and asserted that sanctity of personal communication needs to be maintainedSpeaking at the 15th India Digital Summit Communications Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad noted that national security will be central with regard to exposure of international companies including those from China in the countryWhatsApp has drawn massive criticism from users globally including India over concerns that data was being shared with its parent company Facebook WhatsApp on its part has maintained that messages on the platform are endtoend encrypted and that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can see the private messages on WhatsApps platformThis is an issue that my department is working on and being the final authority it will not be proper for me to make comments But except to flag one thing very clearly Be it WhatsApp be it Facebook be it any digital platform You are free to do business in India but do it in a manner without impinging upon the rights of Indians who operate there Prasad saidHe added that the sanctity of personal communications needs to be maintainedIve only spoken on principles given that my department is working I have to await that he saidEarlier this month WhatsApp had informed users of an update in its terms of service and privacy policy around how it processes user data and partners with Facebook to offer integrations across the social media giants products Users had till February 8 to agree to the new terms in order to continue using the platformHowever WhatsApp drew flak from users across the globe including India that ranks among the biggest markets for WhatsApp with over 400 million usersFollowing this WhatsApp has now decided to delay the rollout of its new policy update to May 15 and said it will do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsAppWhatsApp had also stated that it is open to answering any questions from the government on the issue and that it remains committed to the privacy and security of users across IndiaAsked about participation of Chinese companies in offering their products in India Prasad said it will neither be prudent nor desirable for me to take the name of any country except to highlight the general policy initiative which we are followingYes we banned apps because the issue was data privacy issue was national security issue was national sovereignty Therefore in any exposure of companies national security angle will also be taken be it private or government As far as the relevant financial routes are concerned some changes have also taken place with regard to countries having physical adjacency with India he saidSharing his views about data Prasad said data must be procured through free consent it must be used for the objective for which it has been collected and the data fiduciary who has procured that data must ensure proper safety and sanctity of that dataI do acknowledge the implicit need for data movement across the globe to keep digital commerce intact But the ground rule of that movement must be very clearly laid out Next there must be the reciprocity in the data sharing of the world And again we shall never compromise on our digital sovereignty he saidPrasad said India produces billions of data with its population of 13 billion peopleI want India to become a big centre of data economy in the future When I talk about the data economy I mean data cleaning data processing and data innovation India has huge potential to become a data refinery Therefore the data economy must prosper in India by developing a complete ecosystem he saidHe further stated that the world is also looking towards our data law which we are going to bring very soonThe Minister also spoke of the success of the productionlinked incentive PLI scheme He said the scheme was launched during the height of COVID in April 2020 and all the top companies have applied and they have committed to make mobile phones and equipment worth Rs 10 lakh crores in the coming five years out of which Rs 7 lakh crore is for exportsIndia is today the hub of mobile manufacturing and this process is irreversible India must become the biggest manufacturing centre of laptops of machine 2 machine equipment of tablets etc I want to develop that ecosystem ndash from mobile phones to smart phones to laptops to tablets to IoT devices India must become a huge center of these equipment manufacturing he saidOn 5G the Minister urged Indian players to create an Indian 5G modelAs far as 5G is concerned 5G is still evolving We missed 2G and 3G but we dont want to miss 5G Therefore we developed an Indian test bed and IITs are involved so that all innovative aspects of 5G can be considered Indian players must be proactive in creating an Indian 5G model he saidHe added that 5G must be developed in order to enable inclusive character of its processes for sectors like healthcare education and agricultureThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever