On 7 April, WhatsApp reported that every message is end-to-end encrypted and it collects very little data. As experts were skeptical, India may not be as secure as claimed with over 200 million active users. There were questions about certain User Agreement provisions which did not resolve most of their misdeeds and would not challenge them.
WhatsApp confirmed that very little data is collected, and every message is encrypted end-to-end. In contradiction to the recent comment in the media, a WhatsApp spokesperson said, “we are not keeping track of the friends and family you have messaged” to PTI. An optional feature available to group administrators must be used only with trusted individuals.
“Whenever a new member joins a group all members receive a notification” this notification includes whether the person was added via group link or by an administrator directly. All members of the group can be seen along with their phone numbers and name. This online platform, acquired by Facebook in 2014, has one billion users globally and is one of the most popular means for instant messaging in India.
WhatsApp has admitted that it is sharing information about identity and device information with Facebook, allowing it to do the dirty work in snooping on users. – Vivek Wadhwa, American technology entrepreneur and academic
He further claimed that the users of WhatsApp are a greater threat with the group chat feature than their postings on Facebook because of the availability of mobile phone numbers.
WhatsApp, a free app is making money by harvesting user data and using it in conjunction with others, including Facebook, New York-based attorney Ravi Batra said.
