NEW DELHI: The Centre is examining Meta’s response to concerns over WhatsApp’s proposed “username” feature, with officials assessing whether the safeguards suggested by the company are sufficient to prevent impersonation, phishing and online fraud.
Sources said WhatsApp’s parent company submitted its response late Thursday after consultations between Meta representatives and officials of the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY). The ministry had earlier asked the company not to roll out the feature in India until the consultation process was completed.
According to sources, MeitY is evaluating the feature’s legal, privacy and cybersecurity implications before deciding whether to permit its launch.
The proposed feature would allow users to create a unique identifier beginning with the “@” symbol, enabling them to connect with others without sharing their phone numbers.
Officials have expressed concerns that fraudsters could create usernames resembling those of government departments, public figures, businesses or individuals to mislead users. The feature could also be exploited for phishing attempts, digital-arrest scams and other forms of impersonation-based fraud.
To address these concerns, Meta has proposed reserving usernames associated with government agencies, verified accounts and prominent public figures for their legitimate owners. The company has also said it will block confusingly similar variations of such usernames.
In addition, WhatsApp has proposed safeguards such as limiting the number of new users an account can contact within a specified period. The company has also clarified that usernames will be optional and that users will still need a valid mobile number to create and operate a WhatsApp account.
