A day after India asked it to withdraw changes to its privacy policy, WhatsApp on Wednesday said the proposed change does not expand its ability to share user data with Facebook and that it is open to answering questions on the issue. The Indian government on Tuesday posed 14 questions to WhatsApp on its invasive changes in Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. We wish to reinforce that this update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook. Our aim is to provide transparency and new options available to engage with businesses so they can serve their customers and grow, a WhatsApp spokesperson said.
Read more about TikTok tightens privacy settings and defaults for under-18 users on Business Standard. A month after federal regulators ordered it to disclose how its practices affect children and teenagers, TikTok is tightening its privacy practices for the under-18 crowd.
Messaging service Telegram crossed 500-million subscriber mark globally and added 25 million new users in the last few days as it gained ground amid the controversy over WhatsApp s latest privacy policy update. While Telegram did not specify India-specific user numbers, it said 38 per cent of the new users are from Asia, followed by Europe (27 per cent), Latin America (21 per cent) and MENA (Middle East and North Africa at 8 per cent). In a statement, Telegram said it surpassed 500 million monthly active users in the first week of January, and has continued to grow with 25 million new users joining Telegram in the last 72 hours alone .