Traders’ body requests Modi government to ban WhatsApp, Facebook

The Confederation of All India Traders, which is said to be India’s apex trade body representing seven crore traders and over 40,000 trade associations, has urged the Centre to ban both WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook. This is in the wake of WhatsApp requiring its users to consent to share personal data, payments information, contacts and location details, etc. This mining of data is going to be on an unprecedented scale, critics have said. 

In a letter to the government, CAIT stated that the new policy of WhatsApp blatantly infringes and invades the privacy of users. “We request the government to take immediate cognisance of this matter and take the necessary step of banning Whatsapp in India,” the letter adds. 

As per the body, what WhatsApp and FB are seeking to do is nothing but what the likes of East India Company did centuries ago. If the personal data of crores of users are allowed to be mined by corporations, they will eventually pose a threat to the trade and economy of India, the letter alleges. They could threaten the security and social structure at will, it suggests. 

It has to be seen how the government will deal with the situation.