Facebook executives will answer questions from an Indian parliamentary panel on Thursday about changes to WhatsApp’s privacy, a source said, days after the country’s technology ministry asked the messaging platform to remove them.
The panel will ask why Facebook needed to change WhatsApp’s privacy policy and how that will affect users, the source said. WhatsApp did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Earlier this month, the messaging platform sparked a storm when it informed users that it was preparing a new privacy policy, under which it could share limited user data, including the number. phone number and location, along with Facebook and its group companies.
Demand for competing apps like Signal and Telegram has increased due to privacy concerns, and WhatsApp decided last week to postpone the launch of the new policy until May from February.
With 400 million users, India is WhatsApp’s largest market, and the messaging service has big plans for the country’s growing digital payments space, including selling health insurance through partners.
Last year, Facebook invested $ 5.7 billion in the digital unit of Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate Reliance Industries, much of which was aimed at attracting tens of millions of traditional store owners to use the digital payments via WhatsApp.
Earlier this week, India’s electronics and information technology ministry said in an email to the boss of WhatsApp that the new terms of the privacy policy are removing choice from Indian users.
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