Apprehension over WhatsApp’s new ‘username’ feature, Meta gets three days extra time to explain

Controversy rages around WhatsApp’s new ‘username’ feature. In this situation, the Center sent a notice to Mota last Wednesday. They were asked to answer the matter by July 6. The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology extended that time on July 9.

Recently Meta announced the launch of ‘Username’ feature on WhatsApp. According to this system, chat can be done on WhatsApp without phone number. According to sources, this feature allows users to adopt ‘username’ that looks like the name of a legitimate organization, organization or person. Today, eight to eighty people are immersed in WhatsApp throughout the day. But it is not only for chatting, now most of the official work is also done in this app. But until now a phone number was required to start a conversation on WhatsApp. It is seen in many cases, many users don’t want to give their phone number even if they need to chat for some reason.

Keeping all such situations in mind, the company is planning to bring new features. But the Center fears that using the new system could increase online fraud. Customers’ chat privacy may also be compromised. The number of crimes may increase. After that Modi government sent notice to Meta. According to news agency PTI sources, the Center has already reviewed the legal framework and various sections of the law regarding the proposed ‘username’. It is also known that the new feature proposed by Meta will be cleared for use in India only after it is confirmed whether it will cause any crisis or not.

Incidentally, in response to the Center’s notice on Thursday, a WhatsApp spokesperson said, “The username feature has not yet been launched anywhere. It is planned to launch it in a phased manner by the end of this year. However, before the feature is launched, WhatsApp will store usernames associated with various public representatives, government agencies, stars and verified meta accounts. As a result, these usernames can only be claimed by the real owners. At the same time, matching or confusing with the original username Names will also be blocked, so that no one can cheat with fake identities.” He also said, “Even if the username is activated, the phone number will be mandatory to open the account on WhatsApp. Multiple security measures will be taken to prevent fraud.”