WhatsApp Scrambles as s in Big Indian Market Fret Over Privacy 1q276z Gadgets 360

Though WhatsApp has yet to see mass uninstalls of its app in India, s concerned about privacy are increasingly ing rival apps. 3f1o55

By Reuters | Updated: 14 January 2021 15:45 IST

WhatsApp sought to calm fears and assure s that neither it nor Facebook would have access to messages 4h4r32

Highlights

Signal was the most ed free app in India
WhatsApp has yet to see mass uninstalls of its app in India
Indian startups have also been quick to react

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WhatsApp is battling mistrust globally after it updated its to let it share some data with parent Facebook and other group firms, and the backlash risks thwarting its ambitions in its biggest market, India.

Though Telegram, research firms say, propelling them higher on the charts and putting those apps ahead of their ubiquitous rival in India for the first time.

The reaction in India - where 400 million s exchange more messages on WhatsApp than anywhere in the world - has forced the messaging app to unleash an advertising blitz costing tens of millions of rupees this week in at least 10 English and Hindi newspapers.

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"Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA," WhatsApp said in one newspaper announcement.

It said its update "does not affect the privacy of your messages with your friends and family in any way". WhatsApp has also said that the changes to the are only related to s' interactions with businesses.

When asked for comment, WhatsApp referred Reuters to its published statements on privacy.

Signal Increases Capacity After WhatsApp Criticism Brings Millions to App

The media campaign - similar to one it ran two years ago when it was facing criticism in India for not doing enough to curb disinformation - underscores the severity of the crisis for the world's most popular messaging platform.

Parent Facebook and WhatsApp have bet big on India and any grumbling could dent their plans.

Last year, Facebook invested $5.7 billion (roughly Rs. 41,600 crores) in the digital unit of Indian oil-to-tech group buyout of WhatsApp in 2014.

A huge part of the India investment hinges on a WhatsApp and Reliance project to allow about 30 million mum-and-pop store owners to transact digitally.

While WhatsApp's payment service, approved by India's flagship payments processor late last year after two years of waiting, does not fall under the update, any sizeable shift to other messengers could mean losing out to well-entrenched rivals.

Concerns abound

s around the world were alarmed when WhatsApp said on January 4 it reserved the right to share some data including location and phone number, with Facebook and its units such as Messenger.

Even as WhatsApp sought to calm fears and assure s that neither it nor Facebook would have access to their messages, calls, or call logs, the update triggered a storm globally with Signal s swelling as people looked for alternative messengers.

Signal was the most ed free app in India on both Android outpacing WhatsApp, according to Internet research firm Top10VPN.

s of Signal in India jumped to 71,00,000 between January 5 and January 12, from about 15,000 days earlier, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. Telegram s surged 40 percent while WhatsApp s fell 30 percent in the period.

Manish Khatri, a Mumbai based smartphone seller, said many of his customers were asking if WhatsApp could read their messages.

Indian startups have also been quick to react.

"Here in India WhatsApp/Facebook are abusing their monopoly and taking away millions of s' privacy for granted," Vijay Shekhar Sharma, chief executive of Twitter.

"We should move on to @signalapp NOW. It is up to us to become victim or reject such moves."

MobiKwik, another digital payments firm, had begun using WhatsApp for business communication but has decided to shift to Google and Signal, its boss said.

"I'm making myself unavailable on WhatsApp and I've advised senior executives to do the same," MobiKwik CEO Bipin Preet Singh told Reuters.

WhatsApp's payments system in India competes with the likes of Paytm and MobiKwik as well as PhonePe.

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