WhatsApp says public figures’, government usernames will be reserved after centre’s notice over new feature

WhatsApp has clarified that its upcoming username feature is not yet live after the Centre issued a notice over concerns of impersonation and online scams. The company said usernames for public figures, government entities, celebrities and verified Meta accounts have been reserved to prevent misuse.

New Delhi: WhatsApp has responded to the Indian government’s notice over its upcoming username feature, clarifying that the feature has not been launched yet and will be introduced gradually later this year. This comes as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has ordered the Meta-owned messaging platform to clarify the feature in the next three days and told it to not launch the feature until the government consultation process is finished.

The government has warned that the names might make it easier for online fraudsters to perpetrate online fraud, phishing, impersonation and “digital arrest” scams. In response, WhatsApp said it has only opened username reservations and that users cannot currently message others using usernames. The company says that several safety precautions are included in the system before the feature is enabled.

WhatsApp: Usernames are reserved, not yet usable

The option to reserve their preferred username on WhatsApp is not available yet and will slowly be rolled out later this year, says a WhatsApp spokesperson.

Earlier this week, WhatsApp started to offer people worldwide to book their user names before the wider rollout. The feature is voluntary and is one of the largest privacy adjustments by WhatsApp in the past, where the platform has only identified users by their phone numbers.

The company said the username reservations have been initiated to allow for a massive user base across the globe, where many users have the same username.

Government asks Meta to explain feature

MeitY has sent a notice to WhatsApp’s chief compliance officer on its usernames feature, requesting the company to give it a detailed........

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