Indian Traders, Retailers Ask Govt To Ban Facebook, Whatsapp Over Data Security; Will Govt Listen?

Reportedly, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) raised a strong objection towards the new WhatsApp privacy policy.

WhatsApp New Privacy Policy

Recently, WhatsApp has implemented a change in its Privacy Policy which will be applicable from next month in India.

This new policy will force people using WhatsApp to accept the changed terms if they want to continue the usage of WhatsApp.

Otherwise, they will have to stop using it and delete WhatsApp from their mobile.

According to the CAIT, all kinds of personal data, payment transactions, contacts, location and other vital information of a person using WhatsApp will be acquired by the application and further can be utilized for any purpose by the app.

What Does CAIT Say?

Further, CAIT demanded that the government should immediately restrict WhatsApp from implementing the new policy or put a ban on WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook

So far, Facebook has more than 200 million users in India.

If this kind of data access is enabled about every user by a company then it can pose a serious threat to not only the economy but even to the security of the country.

CAIT said in a communication sent to Minister for Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad, “It reminds us of the days of East India Company who entered India to trade salt only and invade the country but at this time it is the data which is very crucial to wreck the backbone of the economy, social structure, etc. The Facebook- WhatsApp combine has shown their true colors by first facilitating the Indians to use Facebook and WhatsApp without any charge but now seeking access to data, its ultimate object seems to control trade & economy of India besides other hidden agenda,”.

How New WhatsApp Privacy Policy Against The Fundamentals

CAIT National President B. C. Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said, “The changed privacy policy of WhatsApp is an encroachment on the privacy of an individual & runs against the basic fundamentals of Constitution of India and therefore the CAIT has demanded immediate intervention of the Government,” in a joint statement issued on Sunday.

“In its new privacy policy, WhatsApp is forcing the user to accept the new terms and it’s a common phenomenon that most of them without reading the terms would just go ahead and accept it without realizing what WhatsApp is changing under the new terms. It does not give a choice to the user to stay on the platform without accepting the revised terms which is also an encroachment on the independence of a person. How can a company operating in India force the users to accept its arbitrary and one-sided terms,” Bhartia and Khandelwal said.