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WhatsApp privacy policy: Should you stay or should you go

With concerns growing over the new privacy policy of WhatsApp kicking in from February 8, the news that the Government of India has begun examining the said policy is possibly some balm for the worried lot.

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whatsapp privacy policy

By Sambhav Sharma

With concerns growing over the new privacy policy of WhatsApp kicking in from February 8, the news that the Government of India has begun examining the said policy is possibly some balm for the worried lot. The news comes even as WhatsApp unleashed full-page ads across India’s major newspapers on Wednesday, clarifying what has changed in its privacy policy. The ads came after it was popularly understood that WhatsApp will be sharing more user data with its parent company, Facebook. In the advertisement, Whatsapp claimed respect for privacy is coded into its DNA (:)). But it can’t be denied that the new privacy policy has left millions of users in India extremely disconcerted.

Cyber law expert Pavan Duggal has a startling fact: That what WhatsApp has said in the advertisements is not written in its privacy policy yet. The instant change in WhatsApp policy is the warning signal for countries like India where data protection takes the backseat.

Duggal said it is a planned step by Facebook-Whatsapp as they are aware of the policy vacuum in India and the government is not strictly implementing the current law including the Information Technology  Act. There is no law on personal data protection so far, WhatsApp wants to utilise this loophole, he added. WhatsApp wants all your data and wants to monetise it, Duggal said.

Like WhatsApp, Facebook may change its terms and conditions at any point in time, so one should be prepared for that also, he added.

Once you sign up to the new privacy policy, the entire data would go to US-based server under US laws and as per US laws, and once you give consent you cannot challenge it later. It is a kind of modern data warfare, Duggal said.

After the growing privacy worries with WhatsApp, more and more people have switched to rivals Telegram and Signal. Once the number of downloads for Telegram and Signal went through the roof, only then WhatsApp clarify that the policy changes had nothing to do with messaging friends and family. Neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can see your private messages or hear your calls, it said. Personal messages are protected by end-to-end encryption and will continue to be so, WhatsApp clarified.

Cyberlaw expert and Supreme Court lawyer Virag Gupta calls the WhatsApp imposition an act of digital imperialism and it is high time to fix accountability of such platforms, who are getting the biggest digital market in India. This is not just the question of privacy or users but it is the question of the system which is extremely dependent on Facebook and WhatsApp, he added. The government ought to impose taxes on the bulk transfer of data by Facebook group companies. There is no tax on data transfer as of now and no law to fix the accountability of these companies, Gupta added.  

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Even if WhatsApp tries to allay privacy concerns, this step of its has rung the alarm bells. The government needs to come up with new regulations and the need is for strong data protection norms in India so that the data of millions of users could be saved from misuse. On Thursday, a plea has been filed in the Delhi High Court asking the Court to tell the Government of India to not let WhatsApp share user data with Facebook or others under the powers vested in it as per the Information Technology Act. Wait on signing up to the new policy, let see how this ends!

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Dust storm, light rain expected in Delhi-NCR today, heatwave conditions to abate

IMD claimed in a tweet that Thunderstorm dust with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with speed of 30-50 km/hr would occur over and adjoining areas of many places of Delhi, North Delhi, North East Delhi, North west Delhi, West Delhi, Central Delhi, East delhi and NCR( Loni Dehat, Hindon AF station, Ghaziabad, Indrapuram, Chapraula) Sonipat, Rohtak, Kharkhoda (Haryana) Baraut, Bagpat, Meerut, Khekra, Modinagar, Kithor , Garhmukhteshwar, Pilakhua, Hapur ,Gulaoti ,Siyana ,Sikandrabad , Bulandshahr ,  Jahangirabad (UP)

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Dust storm, light rain expected in Delhi-NCR today, heatwave conditions to abate

On Wednesday, a dust storm with light to moderate rain is expected in numerous locations in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). The India Meteorogical Department (IMD) stated the city’s maximum and minimum temperatures are predicted to be in the range of 40 and 25, respectively.

The IMD tweeted an advisory that thunderstorms, dust with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with speed of 30-50 km/hr would occur over and adjoining areas of many places of Delhi, North Delhi, North East Delhi, North West Delhi, West Delhi, Central Delhi, East Delhi and NCR (Loni Dehat, Hindon AF station, Ghaziabad, Indirapuram, Chapraula) Sonipat, Rohtak, Kharkhoda (Haryana), Baraut, Bagpat, Meerut, Khekra, Modinagar, Kithor, Garhmukhteshwar, Pilakhua, Hapur, Gulaoti, Siyana, Sikandrabad, Bulandshahr, Jahangirabad (UP).

For the next two hours, light to moderate intermittent rain is expected over and near Adampur, Hissar, Hansi, and Meham (Haryana).

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On Thursday, May 18, light rain is predicted for in Delhi based on the seven-day prediction for the city. The sky will mainly be cloudy, with the potential of a light  rain or drizzle, according to the weather office.

The air quality will continue to be deteriorated in the city after strong winds with dust swept across the Delhi-NCR on Tuesday. Following this, visibility had reduced to 1000 metres. Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of regional forecasting centre, said the dry atmosphere is one of the reasons for the dust storms.

Following Tuesday’s severe winds and dust storm that blasted across the Delhi-NCR, the city’s air quality had taken an alarming dip.

The monsoons, which are awaited across India, are likely to make landfall in Kerala on June 4. Usually, the monsoon arrives on May 31 or June 1 but the delay will be made up as the phenomenon progresses on its south-west to north-east arc. With extreme temperatures right from a cold sytart to May to dust-laden winds in mid-May, the weather in the country is paying the price for accelerating climate change.

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Security lapse at Navjot Singh Sidhu’s Patiala home, says it will not deter him from raising his voice against Punjab

After his release from jail, he slammed the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for its law and order in the state.

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Navjot Singh Sidhu

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has filed a complaint with the Punjab Police after he spotted a suspicious person wrapped in a grey blanket on his terrace. He alleged a security lapse at his Patiala home. He couldn’t catch him as he fled after his servant raised an alarm.

Taking to Twitter, Sidhu said, Today on the terrace of his residence an unknown suspicious character wrapped in a grey blanket was noticed around 7:00 pm, the moment his servant went out raised the alarm, and called for help, he immediately ran and escaped.

The 59-year-old further said that he has spoken to DGP Punjab Police and has also informed SSP Patiala. He said the security lapse will not deter him from raising his voice for Punjab.

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Punjab Police registered a case in this matter. According to the reports, the Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma visited his residence after the complaint and is currently investigating the matter. The CCTV footage of the area is also being scanned, reports state.

Cricketer-turned-politician came out of the Patiala Central Jail on April 1 after serving nearly 10 months in a 1988 road rage case. After his release from jail, he slammed the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for its law and order in the state.

He said Democracy is in chains. Punjab is the shield of this country. When dictatorship came in this country, a revolution also came, led by Rahul Gandhi.

Sidhu also slammed the Mann government over the pruning of security of slain singer Sidhu Moosewala and also making it public.

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Air India Delhi-San Francisco flight suffers tech glitch before take-off, returns to stand

The airline has not given any official statement in this matter.

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Air India Flight

Air India flight which was en route to San Francisco from Delhi on Monday had to be returned to the stand because of a technical glitch. The San Francisco-bound flight suffered a tech issue before take off.

According to the reports, the aircraft which was carrying over 200 passengers from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) had to be replaced with another aircraft. Later, the passengers were accommodated in another aircraft.

The airline has not given any official statement in this matter.

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Earlier today, another Air India incident occurred where a London-bound flight returned to Delhi’s IGI airport after a mid-air brawl between an unruly passenger and the flight’s cabin crew.

A brawl ensued between a passenger and the crew members shortly after it departed from the airport at around 6:35 am. The onboard ruckus forced the plane to turn around and return to Delhi again where the raucous passenger was deboarded and handed over to the police at the airport.

Air India apologized to the passengers on the affected Delhi-London flight for the delay and inconvenience caused to them due to the incident and assured them that efforts will be made to ensure such incidents do not occur in the future.

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