ISLAMABAD: With cyber security being a major concern, Minister of Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said his ministry is considering introducing a strong data protection law to protect citizens’ privacy.
His comments were made on Sunday in response to WhatsApp’s new privacy policy, which allows consumers to share confidential information. The new policy requires users to share personal data, such as location, IP addresses, operating systems, information about how subscribers interacted with each other, and even mobile network and mobile device information, such as IMEI number.
The new terms of service, which are due to take effect a month from now, on February 8, come with the proviso that if users refuse to share data with Facebook, they will have to end WhatsApp.
WhatsApp started releasing its app update notifications earlier this week, claiming there was a change to its Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Users were told that the app would handle their data quite differently due to the new partnership with Facebook.
“And it is particularly worrying that these new conditions do not apply to subscribers in the USA, the UK and Europe,” said the Federal Minister for Science and Technology Dawn describing the new ‘discriminatory’ policy.
Hussain said that cybersecurity is a major concern and that his ministry is taking initiatives to protect subscribers’ personal data.
He argued that, instead of taking a ‘one-sided’ approach, such political changes should have been made after broader consultation.
“WhatsApp may have claimed that it would allow other sister organizations, such as Facebook, to access certain users’ information for advertising purposes. But as soon as the encryption is removed, WhatsApp’s sister companies will have access to all subscriber information, ”explained the minister.
According to a senior official at the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), users are likely to see ads in the future, as they do while watching videos on YouTube and other social media platforms.
However, he said, it was too early for the PTA to respond, which was still evaluating the new policy and how it would affect users.
According to the official, a large part of the information that WhatsApp will allow other organizations to access is “sensitive data and, therefore, alarming”.
“None of the user information, which WhatsApp now wants to pass on to other companies, was not allowed in its previous privacy policy,” he said, detailing that the social media platform Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014.
While responding to many criticisms from information technology experts that their privacy and personal information would be compromised, WhatsApp said that personal chats would remain encrypted from end to end and that no third party would be able to read them. He said the update did not change WhatsApp’s data sharing practices with Facebook and did not affect the way people communicated privately with friends or family.
Internet activist Nighat Dad, who runs a non-profit Digital Rights Foundation, shared the federal minister’s concerns. “It is worrying that the new conditions do not apply to EU countries,” she said.
“Facebook already has access to a lot of our personal information, but that’s okay because it was an informed decision. But what about all those around the world who don’t use Facebook and just WhatsApp for privacy reasons or for any reason. This makes us wonder why WhatsApp needs information such as the model of our devices, our local phone numbers and our location to mention some important data that they will now ask for in the new conditions, ”she said.
She also feared that in the future Pakistan would come up with its own laws to protect consumer data that it could be, what she called draconian like the Pakistan Electronic Crime Act (PECA), which compromises users’ personal data.
Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2021