WhatsApp has scrapped its May 15 deadline for users to accept its controversial privacy policy update and said not accepting the terms will not lead to deletion of accounts.
Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has been granted permission to double its user base for the payments service to 40 million by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). WhatsApp has a total user base of 400 million and the development will help the platform compete better with entrenched rivals like Google Pay and Phone Pe. The US-based company had been eyeing the payments opportunity for long, but data localisation requirements had initially led to a delay.
Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of WhatsApp, will partner with Reliance JioMart for a service where WhatsApp users can buy groceries on the messaging platform from the Indian retail firm. Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer (CEO) of Meta Platforms, said in a Facebook post, "[I am] Excited to launch our partnership with JioMart in India. "This is our first-ever end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp--people can now buy groceries from JioMart right in a chat." "Business messaging is an area with real momentum and chat-based experiences like this will be the go-to way people and businesses communicate in the years to come," he said in an announcement coinciding with the annual general Meeting (AGM) of Reliance Industries the parent company of JioMart.
The Congress on Wednesday criticized the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government for a stampede at the Sangam during the Maha Kumbh, blaming mismanagement and a focus on VIP movement instead of common devotees for the tragic incident. Rahul Gandhi called for reining in "VIP culture" and improving arrangements for devotees. Congress leaders expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and demanded action to prevent such incidents in the future.
Ordering groceries, vegetables and daily essentials is just a WhatsApp away as billionaire Mukesh Ambani's e-commerce platform JioMart taps into the popular messaging app to scale up online business in its fight for dominance in the giant Indian retail market with Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart. Ambani's twin children, Akash and Isha gave a preview of the ordering at Meta's second edition of the Fuel for India event on Wednesday. A new 'tap and chat' option allows users to order groceries through WhatsApp.
A young Indian man was arrested in Pakistan after illegally crossing the border to meet a Facebook friend he wanted to marry. However, the woman told police she was not interested in marrying him. The man, Badal Babu, was arrested in the Mandi Bahauddin district of Pakistan's Punjab province on December 28. He had crossed the border to meet his Facebook friend, Sana Rani. Rani, in her statement to police, said she had been friends with Babu for the past two-and-a-half years but was not interested in marrying him. Babu's family has appealed to the Indian government to intervene for his release.
The police took action after cyber patrolling revealed that 60 fake lottery apps, 25 fake Facebook profiles and 20 websites are connected to the scam, the SPMC release said.
Users well-versed in privacy laws or those concerned with their data would be worried; it could well be that many of us have already accepted the end user agreement without ado, points out Ashish Narsale.
To contact MyGov Corona Helpdesk chatbot, citizens can save the WhatsApp number +91 9013151515 on their phones; start a chat by typing 'Book Slot' and send it to the number.
The sources further stated that all the Indian nationals there are safe and the embassy remains available to assist them in the crisis-hit nation.
'We are aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products. We are working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologise for any inconvenience,' a Facebook spokesperson said.
The guidelines come after director general of police RR Swain said that posting any content on social media that promotes disharmony will be a criminal offence in Jammu and Kashmir.
The new IT rules -- which came into effect last year -- require large digital platforms (with over 50 lakh users) to publish compliance reports every month, mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken.
The Indian government on Tuesday posed 14 questions to WhatsApp on its "invasive" changes in Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Uber and WhatsApp on Thursday announced a partnership that will allow people in the country to book a ride via WhatsApp - a global-first initiative by the ride-hailing platform. With this integration, riders will no longer need to download or use the Uber app. Everything - from user registration, booking a ride and getting a trip receipt - will be managed within the WhatsApp chat interface, a statement said. The integration is a global-first for Uber, and it will make booking a ride as easy as sending a WhatsApp message, it added.
Atul Subhash, who worked for a private firm in Bengaluru, left behind a 24-page death note, giving extensive details of what he alleged was years long of emotional distress of marital issues; multiple cases filed against him and harassment by his wife, her relatives, and a judge based in Uttar Pradesh, police said.
Will the Draft UGC Regulations 2025 undermine our universities? Unlikely, notes Professor Mohammad Sajjad, citing how AMU has utilised its exceptional autonomy.
"If the BJP had governed with the same intensity with which it is running the bulldozer of injustice, today its members wouldn't have to hide in their homes, fearing the anger of students," he said.
India's e-commerce market alone is projected to reach $200 billion by 2026, making it a prime industry for ambitious entrepreneurs, explains rediffGURU Harsh Bharwani.
"WhatsApp is an industry leader in preventing abuse, among end-to-end encrypted messaging services. Over the years, we have consistently invested in Artificial Intelligence and other state of the art technology, data scientists and experts, and in processes, in order to keep our users safe on our platform," a WhatsApp spokesperson said.
Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus on Thursday said it plans to invest up to Rs 6,000 crore in its India business over the next three years. The company plans to make the investment in tranches of Rs 2,000 crore annually for the next three years under 'Project Starlight'. OnePlus on Thursday announced an annual investment of Rs 2,000 crore over the next three years to accelerate innovations in products and services in India.
A day after getting permission to raise its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) user base to 100 million, WhatsApp on Thursday said it has plans to make significant investments in 'payments on WhatsApp' across India, including India-first features and driving adoption. The company, however, did not share details of its plans. The Meta-owned messaging app got its first greenlight for its payments service from the National Payments Council of India (NPCI) in November 2020 with a cap of 20 million users. A year later, in November 2021, the limit was raised to 40 million users.
Film folk are still celebrating Diwali on social media.
Messaging platform WhatsApp on Wednesday said it has rolled out a pilot program across 500 villages across Karnataka and Maharashtra, aimed at empowering villagers with access to digital payments through 'payments on WhatsApp'. The announcement was made at Fuel For India 2021 - Meta's annual event in India. WhatsApp India Head Abhijit Bose said the pilot aims to effect a behavioral transformation to digital payments at the grassroots.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided the premises of businessman Raj Kundra, the husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, and some others as part of a money laundering case linked to alleged distribution of pornographic content. Around 15 locations in Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh are being searched. The probe pertains to the role of suspects in alleged distribution of pornographic content through mobile applications and other modes.
'The abuse got so ugly and toxic that I became depressed and had to seek therapy.'
Brought up in penury, the sensational Yashasvi Jaiswal says he now uses the experience gained from those difficult days as ammunition to conquer the battles on and off the field.
A study published in the journal Environment and Planning F has revealed that cameras and drones originally intended for conservation activities in Corbett National Park are being misused by local government officials and men to surveil women without consent. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Cambridge, found that forest rangers intentionally flew drones over local women to scare them and prevent them from collecting natural resources, despite their legal right to do so. The researchers argue that these technologies, deployed under the guise of wildlife monitoring, are being used to intimidate and exert power over women, invading their privacy and altering their behavior in the forest. This has had a negative impact on women's mental health, with one woman interviewed for the study being killed in a tiger attack.
The MHA said that the law and order situation of all states should be monitored in view of the protests.
The ministry has taken a strong position on the matter, and made it clear that it is not just problematic but also "irresponsible" for the messaging platform to leverage its position to impose "unfair" terms and conditions on Indian users, when many depend on WhatsApp to communicate in everyday life, according to the sources.
The ministry of electronics and information technology has directed WhatsApp to withdraw its new privacy policy, according to sources. The IT ministry believes that the changes to WhatsApp privacy policy and the manner of introducing the said changes undermines the sacrosanct values of informational privacy, data security and user choice and harms the rights and interests of Indian citizens, government sources said. The government has given seven days to WhatsApp to respond to the notice and if no satisfactory response is received, necessary steps in consonance with law will be taken, sources informed. In a communication to WhatsApp on May 18, the ministry has once again told the messaging platform to withdraw its privacy policy 2021, they said.
WhatsApp on Tuesday said its latest policy update does not affect the privacy of messages as the Facebook-owned company sought to address concerns around security of user data on the platform.
The most prominent changes deal with how WhatsApp shares information with Facebook and its subsidiaries.
The majority of these calls originate from foreign-based gangsters or their associates, using Voice Over Internet Protocol or international phone numbers, they said.
The operations revealed evidence of price and volume manipulation of stocks through the use of platforms like YouTube and WhatsApp.
The advisory depicted the logos of social media platforms like WhatsApp and Skype to showcase that calls for such scams are made using such platforms.
The Kerala high court has observed that no religious belief stands above the Constitution.
Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday ordered a detailed probe into popular messaging platform WhatsApp's updated privacy policy and terms of service after finding that the 'exploitative and exclusionary conduct' in the garb of the policy update prima facie violated competition norms.
Andhra Pradesh Police are searching for film director Ram Gopal Varma after he failed to appear for an investigation regarding his alleged offensive social media posts against Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and others. Varma's lawyer claimed that the director would cooperate with the investigation via "digital mode" as "digital policing is prevalent all over India now." However, police have stated that Varma was given ample time and has failed to show up for the investigation twice. The police are combing every place where Varma is suspected to be present.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Whitefield, Shivakumar on Tuesday confirmed that Bengaluru-based techie Atul Subhash died by suicide in the early hours of December 9 following harassment from his wife and her family.
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