In what may surprise many, a recent survey has revealed that 80 per cent of WhatsApp users in India do not know or care about the new privacy policy it has introduced.
This came to light after Prashnam, a Mumbai-based artificial intelligence technology start-up, conducted a survey of WhatsApp users across Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu on their awareness of the privacy policy change and if they would switch to another app.
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The result of the survey was quite astonishing as 47 per cent of the WhatsApp users responding to the survey said new privacy policy was not a big issue while 32 per cent of them had not even heard of the changes being brought in the privacy policy. Meanwhile, 21 per cent of the WhatsApp users said that they would prefer to use something else.
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The survey also revealed that respondents in Hindi speaking states were more likely to switch over to a new instant messaging App, a stark contrast to Tamil Nadu, where only 10 per cent said they would switch. 17 per cent of the WhatsApp users in Maharashtra and 25 per cent users in Kerala said that they would likely switch due to the changes in the privacy policy.
Earlier this week, the Centre had written to WhatsApp to withdraw the proposed changes to the privacy policy of the messaging application for the Indian users.
Expressing concern of information security, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology wrote to WhatsApp CEO - Will Cathcart - over the recent changes to the messaging application’s privacy policy.
Pointing out that the Indian Parliament is considering the Personal Data Protection Bill, the ministry also asked WhatsApp as to why such significant changes have been brought in.