WhatsApp Assures Enhanced Privacy Safety Protocols For Indians Facing Spam Calls From Unknown Numbers

WhatsApp has assured that it will soon ramp up security and ensure better user privacy. The assurance is in response to the Indian government's intention to notice sent to Meta about increasing spam calls from unknown international numbers.

WhatsApp currently provides options like 'Block' and 'Report' for users to avoid any unwanted calls or messages. However, these precautions and safety features are failing to protect its users, especially in India. The instant messaging platform has now assured the Indian government it will improve backend processes to safeguard user privacy.

Indian Government Sent Notice To Meta And WhatsApp Responded

As we had recently reported, WhatsApp users in India have been receiving incoming international spam calls over the past few days. Several WhatsApp users took to social media platforms such as Twitter to complain that these spam calls.

The majority of the spam calls originated from outside India. These spam calls had country codes belonging to Indonesia (+62), Vietnam (+84), Malaysia (+60), Kenya (+254), and Ethiopia (+251).

Taking notice of the rising menace, Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the IT Ministry will send a notice to WhatsApp on the issue of spam calls from unknown international numbers. He assured that the government intends to ensure the privacy of users on digital platforms.

He stressed that all digital platforms are responsible and accountable for ensuring the safety of 'digital nagriks'. "Alleged misuse or alleged breach of users' privacy on any such platform will receive an appropriate response from the government."

WhatsApp Responds With Assurance About Ramping Up Backend Protection

WhatsApp has responded to the Indian Government's call to send notice to Meta's messaging platform. The platform has admitted there's an increase in international scams and spam calls.

WhatsApp has always promised to safeguard users' privacy and security. However, options like 'Block' and 'Report' for users to avoid any unwanted calls or messages aren't stopping the barrage of scam calls.

Hence, WhatsApp has assured it will ramp up its AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) system. WhatsApp has indicated that the revised algorithms could help bring down the current calling rate by at least 50 percent.

For the past several days, WhatsApp users in India have been getting multiple requests for text and video chats. Moreover, these scammers are even able to video call because WhatsApp currently allows any subscriber to video call or text anyone else. To avoid further messages and video calls, users can only block these numbers.