Whatsapp

Messaging app WhatsApp has asked its two billion users to accept new terms and conditions that will allow the platform to share more information with parent company Facebook and roll out advertising and e-commerce. The update sparked criticism among users as they must accept the changes or see their access to the service - which also allows encrypted voice and video calls - cut off from Feb 8. According to Kaspersky, the update is another example of users having to pay with their data in order to use "free" services. "Nothing is truly free, and, unfortunately, the current business model for free services means that, essentially, we pay with our data," says Anna Larkina, senior researcher at Kaspersky. Larkina says social networks, some messengers and search engines make money off of advertising, and the more personalised it is the better.  "In fact, Facebook and other companies have been doing this through its services for the past few years," she says. "The good news is that 1) Most of the companies, including Facebook, are being transparent about its policies and 2) WhatsApp doesn’t read your conversations because it includes end-to-end encryption. All they’re tracing is technical and account information." Moving forward,…

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday said the leaked WhatsApp chat of Arnab Goswami had revealed the "dirty nexus" between the Modi government and the Indian media that was pushing the nuclearised region to the brink of a conflict. Taking to Twitter, Imran said in his address to the United Nations General Assembly, he had informed the world how India's fascist Modi government used the "Balakot crisis for domestic electoral gains"."Latest revelations from the communication of an Indian journalist, known for his warmongering, reveal the unholy nexus between the Modi govt and Indian media that led to a dangerous military adventurism to win an election in utter disregard for the consequences of destabilising the entire region," he said.The premier said a "larger crisis" was averted due to Pakistan's "responsible, measured response to Balakot". However, he warned that the Modi government was turning India into a "rogue state".Imran said Indian sponsorship of terrorism in Pakistan, its abuses in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and a 15-year global disinformation campaign against Pakistan had been exposed."Now India's own media has revealed the dirty nexus that is pushing our nuclearised region to the brink of a conflict it cannot afford," said the PM. He…

Jaap Arriens | NurPhoto | Getty ImagesWhatsApp has delayed a privacy policy update that caused confusion and backlash among users over fears it could mean broader data sharing with the messaging app's owner Facebook."We've heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update. There's been a lot of misinformation causing concern and we want to help everyone understand our principles and the facts," WhatsApp said in a blog post over the weekend.The updates related specifically to features that allow users to message and interact with businesses on WhatsApp. Last year, Facebook announced that businesses using WhatsApp could store and manage their chats with customers using Facebook's "secure hosting infrastructure."As part of this, a business can see the contents of the message between it and a user and may use that information for its own marketing purposes, which could include advertising on Facebook.WhatsApp was set to start prompting users on Feb. 8 to accept updated terms in order to continue using the app. But Facebook said that it is now pushing the date back for people to review and accept the terms. No one will have their account suspended or deleted on Feb. 8, Facebook added.…

WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned company, has updated its privacy policy. The company initially had asked users to accept the new terms and conditions till February 08. In a new blog post, it has expanded the date. “We’re now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms. No one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8. We're also going to do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsApp. We’ll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.” Read More: How will I know if someone blocked me on WhatsApp? Can you delete a WhatsApp message after it's sent? According to WhatsApp, the new update in policy includes changes related to messaging a business on WhatsApp, which is optional, and provides further transparency about how the data is collected and used. Is WhatsApp safe and private?According to WhatsApp, all chats on the platform are end-to-end encrypted. As per company, no one other than the sender and the recipient can read your private messages or listen to your calls. Can…

Third-party apps that build online inventories of products and engage with customers through WhatsApp and other social media, though popular, don’t offer the same integration level that WhatsApp is trying to build with JioMart.(MINT_PRINT) The integration will allow JioMart catapult its reach across India, allowing Reliance Retail to pose a serious challenge to Flipkart and Amazon’s domination in India’s fast-growing online retail market. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ltd plans to embed its e-commerce app JioMart into WhatsApp within six months, allowing the 400 million users of India’s most popular messaging service order products without having to leave the app, two officials aware of the development said, requesting anonymity.The integration will allow JioMart catapult its reach across India, allowing Reliance Retail to pose a serious challenge to Flipkart and Amazon’s domination in India’s fast-growing online retail market. Ambani is trying to wrest a bigger share of India’s retail market, estimated to reach $1.3 trillion by 2025. Reliance is already India’s biggest offline retailer.JioMart was launched in May across 200 cities and towns, a month after Reliance Retail signed a pact with WhatsApp to boost the reach of the online shopping website. In April, Facebook Inc. bought a 9.9% stake in…

WhatsApp recently announced an upgrade of its privacy policy to take effect on 8 February 2021. The move has led to a heightened awareness of the vulnerabilities of personal and professional data, with users looking for alternatives that can effectively secure their data. As expected, competitor apps have emerged and are aggressively marketing their solutions. Enter QT Software, a company that has partnered with Indian engineers to develop a secure communication platform for enterprises with unparalleled levels of data security. QT Software’s Indian engineers have the experience of a nation of hundreds of millions of WhatsApp users, with significant insights on building systems that can be scaled to large populations without compromising users’ security and privacy. “QTConnect provides end-to-end encryption with three layers of security for voice, messaging on everyday smartphones and tablets, and Internet-based instant messenger, as well as an audio telephony application that allows smartphone users to exchange text, media files and voice calls,” Navin Nyalapelli, QT senior software engineer said. "With its focus on security, every packet is encrypted with two different encryption algorithms for secrecy and two different authentication algorithms to protect against tampering. In addition, QTConnect is secure from mobile cyber-attacks, immune from protocol fingerprinting attacks and safe from…

WhatsApp has been embroiled in a flurry of confusion since a change in the company's privacy policy sparked the ire of many. People such as Elon Musk suggested that users switch to rival Signal as it does not collect nearly as much data, and that call to action sparked millions to download Signal. All this chaos did not fall on deaf ears, though, as WhatsApp is pushing back its changes and trying to clean up the mess it made. Today, WhatsApp penned a blog post in an attempt to make amends and try to clear the air after what happened earlier this week. The explained that it "heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update," and it lays the blame on "a lot of misinformation causing concern." Specifically, the company claims that messages are only between users, and Facebook and WhatsApp can't see them. Furthermore, WhatsApp does not keep logs of messages or calls, and it cannot see shared location data. Since these things seemed to cause a lot of confusion, the date people will have to review and accept the terms is being shoved back until May 15th. The company is also planning…

WhatsApp delays enforcement of a controversial privacy change, Apple may get rid of the Touch Bar in future MacBooks and Bumble files to go public. This is your Daily Crunch for January 15, 2021. The big story: WhatsApp responds to privacy backlash Earlier this month, WhatsApp sent users a notification asking them to consent to sharing some of their personal data — such as phone number and location — with Facebook (which owns WhatsApp). The alert also said users would have to agree to the terms by February 8 if they wanted to continue using the app. This change prompted legal threats and an investigation from the Turkish government. Now the company is pushing the enforcement date back three months. “No one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8. We’re also going to do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsApp,” the company said in a post. “We’ll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.” The tech giants Uber planning to spin out Postmates’ delivery robot arm — Postmates X is seeking investors in its…

Mobile numbers of WhatsApp Web users found on Google Search. As WhatsApp faces intense scrutiny over its upcoming data and privacy policy in India and elsewhere, another user data violation has been reported, this time on the WhatsApp on Desktop (Web) application, allegedly exposing personal mobile numbers via indexing on Google Search. Although WhatsApp is primarily a mobile app, currently being used by over 400 million users in India, some working professionals also use the instant chat app on their desktops and PCs via the Web version. Independent cybersecurity researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia on Friday shared some screenshots with IANS showing indexing of personal mobile numbers of WhatsApp users via Web version on Google Search. "The leak is happening via WhatsApp on Web. If someone is using WhatsApp on laptop or on an office PC, the mobile numbers are being indexed on Google Search. These are mobile numbers of individual users not business numbers," Rajaharia told IANS. Earlier this week, concerned at private group chat links being available on Google Search, WhatsApp said that it had asked Google not to index such chats and advised users not to share group chat links on publicly accessible websites. Google had indexed invite links…

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