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  WhatsApp is adding more details to its privacy policy and flagging that information for European users, after Irish regulators slapped the chat service with a record fine for breaching strict EU data privacy rules. Starting Monday, WhatsApp's privacy policy will be reorganized to provide more information on the data it collects and how it's used. The company said it's also explaining in more detail how it protects data shared across borders for its global service and the legal foundations for processing the data. WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, now renamed Meta Platforms. With the update, users in Europe will see a banner notification at the top of their chat list that will take them to the new information. Read More

  The Delhi High Court Friday said it will hear on August 27 the pleas by Facebook and WhatsApp challenging the new IT rules for social media intermediaries, requiring the messaging app to trace chats and make provisions to identify the first originator of information, on the ground that they violate the right to privacy and are unconstitutional. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh listed the matter for August 27 after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said he was in some difficulty and urged the court to adjourn the hearing. The request was not opposed by senior advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for WhatsApp and Facebook respectively. Click Here

  WhatsApp has started testing a new feature that lets users share videos in high quality. The name of the feature is 'Video Upload Quality' and it's currently under development, hence it's not available for the public. According to The Verge, the feature will be available for users in a future update. This new feature has been currently released as part of WhatsApp Android Beta version 2.21.14.6. In a future update, users will be able to choose the video upload quality by picking one of 3 options, namely, Auto (recommended), Best Quality, and data saver. In the case of auto, WhatsApp will detect the best compression algorithm for that specific video. Then another feature is the best quality one that lets WhatsApp always send the video using the best quality available. Click Here

  As a step towards reaching more people in emerging markets, KaiOS Technologies and WhatsApp have released an update that enables WhatsApp VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for KaiOS-enabled devices worldwide. KaiOS is a mobile operating system, based on Linux, for keypad feature phones. It is developed by KaiOS Technologies Limited, a company based in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The new feature is available to smart feature phone users with the latest version of the app on KaiOS devices worldwide equipped with 512MB RAM. “People are relying on WhatsApp now more than ever to communicate and stay in touch with their loved ones. We want to support communities who are on lighter operating systems in many places around the world. Read More

  The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has once again asked WhatsApp to take back its new privacy policy, which has been in the eye of a storm since the messaging service first announced it in December. WhatsApp privacy policy According to sources, in a communication sent to WhatsApp on Tuesday, the Ministry has told the Facebook-owned company to withdraw its privacy policy, saying that the manner of introducing these changes, including those in the FAQ, undermines the sacrosanct values of informational privacy, data security and user choice for Indian users and harms the rights and interests of Indian citizens. The Ministry has also taken the same stand in the Delhi High Court, where this matter is sub-judice. The Ministry has given WhatsApp seven days to respond to their letter, and "if no satisfactory response is received, necessary steps in consonance with law will be taken". Click Here