Recently, WhatsApp released an in-app notification forcing users to accept its revised privacy policy by 08 February 2021 or stop using its service entirely. The new privacy policy confirms that Facebook may now have access to messages shared with businesses on WhatsApp and it provides more insight into expansive meta data collection by WhatsApp. The latest changes to WhatsApp’s privacy policy cement the problematic status quo which has existed since the privacy policy was first updated in 2016. The changes to WhatsApp’s privacy policy in 2016 are also the subject of pending litigation before the Supreme Court of India in Karmanya Singh Sareen v. Union of India, where IFF is an intervenor.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://internetfreedom.in/explainer-whatsapp-privacy-policy-changes-2021/