WhatsApp has said it is testing privacy-protective methods for users to verify their age as it prepares to comply with upcoming regulations in India, including the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act.
The messaging platform said age-related information is private and will not be shared with other WhatsApp users. It added that the test is optional, and users can continue using WhatsApp without confirming their age.
"To comply with upcoming laws in India like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP), we are testing privacy-protective ways for people to confirm their age. This doesn't change how WhatsApp works or your experience. We understand that information about someone's age is private and it won't be shared with other WhatsApp users," a WhatsApp spokesperson said in response to a PTI query.
WhatsApp's nudge to some users to add their date of birth saying "upcoming laws in India require us to ask for your age" had fuelled a social media chatter that messaging the platform could be gearing up for future age-verification requirements in the country.
Early Tuesday, IT Secretary S Krishnan had observed that the move "might be from the context of DPDP Act, where it is age-related."
"But we will have to check with them... because we are approaching the deadline...," Krishnan had said.
On the ministry's next steps on the username notices, Krishnan said the issue extends beyond WhatsApp, to all messaging apps. Two dimensions -- the possibility of impersonation risks arising from username features, and the privacy angle -- will have to be taken into account, he said.
If the IT ministry is mulling a common set of standards governing all messaging platforms, Krishnan said, "We are looking at what they had to say, the feedback that they've given, and we will take a final call."
The username feature essentially allows people on the messaging platform to communicate without sharing their phone numbers.
Last month, the government issued a notice to the Meta-owned messaging platform questioning WhatsApp's proposed username feature, as the Centre flagged concerns that it could materially increase online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams, and impersonation attacks.
It had also directed the platform not to launch the feature until consultations on the issue are completed "to the satisfaction of the government". WhatsApp has nearly 50 crore users in India.
In the notice, the government had asked Meta to explain why action shouldn't be initiated under the IT Act and rules over WhatsApp's proposed feature that may increase cybercrimes. It also reminded Meta that WhatsApp, as a significant social media intermediary, is bound by due diligence obligations under the IT Act and rules.
Subsequently, WhatsApp has submitted its reply to the government notice, and assured that it would not roll out the feature in India until discussions were complete.
After the notice to WhatsApp, the IT ministry had also shot off notices to Telegram and Signal, raising questions on their existing "username" feature and asking how the platforms are addressing concerns related to fraud and impersonation risks.
(With inputs from PTI)