The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has extended the deadline for Meta to respond to the WhatsApp username issue by another three days. The new deadline is July 9, a government official told HT on Sunday.
Earlier this week, ministry officials gave WhatsApp until July 6 to respond to the username feature on the messaging platform.
According to people familiar with the matter, this notice was issued to Meta after the government sought a detailed explanation regarding the feature.
WhatsApp introduced a username feature that would allow messaging on the platform without sharing a person’s phone number.
Meta also stated that a username is different from the display name that appears on a user’s profile.
Although display names don’t have to be unique, usernames will be unique for each account.
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Sources had earlier told HT that the government had directed Meta not to roll out the feature in India until consultations on the issue were completed.
This step comes after privacy and safety concerns were raised about this feature, especially the risk of impersonation and misuse.
A new WhatsApp feature could allow a perpetrator to create a fake profile to impersonate and make fake calls, a Telecom Ministry official told HT.
“The biggest problem is that it will become difficult for law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to determine whether the perpetrator of the crime is in India or abroad. Tomorrow, anyone can create a WhatsApp account using +1 (US) number, use NIA chief’s photo, adopt a similar username and make fraudulent calls. Earlier, if the number starts with +91, we can at least initiate action,” said the official, requesting anonymity. If the number is not available, there is almost no way to solve the problem.”
