Big relief to WhatsApp, Central Government extended the deadline for reply by 3 more days

New Delhi. The Central Government has given a big relief to the company regarding the upcoming ‘username’ feature of WhatsApp. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has extended the deadline for response sought from WhatsApp on this issue by three days. A government official confirmed on Sunday that Meta-owned WhatsApp will now have to submit its official response on the matter by July 9.

What is this whole controversy?

Actually, WhatsApp is working on a new feature, after which users will not need to give their mobile number to chat with anyone. Users will be able to communicate with others just by creating a username (e.g. @cricketpremi or @rahul123). At first glance, this seems like a good move for privacy, but the Indian government has serious concerns about its security aspects.

Why is the government troubled by this feature?

According to government sources, chatting based only on username without phone number will make it extremely difficult to catch cyber criminals, rumor mongers and scammers. Tracking any suspicious account can become a big challenge for security agencies. For this reason, the Ministry had asked WhatsApp how it would ensure the security and identity of users after the introduction of this feature.

Earlier WhatsApp had to respond immediately on this, but now the government has given the company another chance to present its views by giving time till July 9. Now it remains to be seen whether WhatsApp finds a middle path keeping in mind Indian laws and the security concerns of the country.