WhatsApp has backtracked on its decision to withhold some features of the messaging app for users who refused to accept its controversial updated privacy policy.

The parent company, Facebook, now says that the plan has changed, and users who don’t accept the updated policy actually won’t see limited functionality for now. The decision was made after the social media company spoke with governments and privacy advocates.

“Given recent discussions with various authorities and privacy experts, we want to make clear that we currently have no plans to limit the functionality of how WhatsApp works for those who have not yet accepted the update. Instead, we will continue to remind users from time to time about the update as well as when people choose to use relevant optional features, like communicating with a business that is receiving support from Facebook,” the company said in a statement.

The new WhatsApp privacy policy has generated a flurry of backlash by governments and privacy advocacy groups since it was announced late last year.

India, Facebook’s largest market, where WhatsApp has more than 400 million people in its user-base, kicked seriously against the update. Last week, the government asked Facebook to withdraw the new policy roll out. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) said the new policy violates several laws and rules, and gave Facebook seven days to respond. The regulator said that if the response from the Facebook-owned company is not satisfactory, the government can take lawful actions against the social networking giant.

Although the Indian government is following a different approach, the decision comes a week after Germany banned the new WhatsApp privacy policy.

The Nigerian government has also issued warning to its citizens about accepting the new privacy policy as it violates National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) privacy rules.

“Nigerians may wish to know that there are other available platforms with similar functionalities they may wish to explore. Choice of platform should consider other practices, privacy, ease of use, among other things,” NITDA said.

The watchdog further warned Nigerians to “limit the sharing of sensitive personal information and private messaging on social media platforms as the initial promise of privacy and security is now being overridden on the basis of business exigency.”

Last week, Nigeria’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy said its working to ensure that WhatsApp’s new privacy policy does not breach the privacy rights of Nigerian WhatsApp users.

“The Federal Government released the Nigeria Data Protection Regulations (NDPR) in 2019 and is committed to upholding the data privacy of Nigerians. We are also aware that the European region is exempt from the provisions of the updated Policy and it is also being challenged in a number of countries.

“The Honourable Minister has therefore directed the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), as the Regulator of the Information Technology sector, to engage vigorously with Facebook to understand the processes, level of security, etc of the data of Nigerian users in order to ensure that Policies proposed for Nigeria strictly adhere to the provisions of NDPR,” the Ministry said.

With the intense pressure coming from many countries of its operation, especially its huge markets, Facebook is beginning to change tone, signaling that it may totally quash the new privacy policy in some countries. Although the social media giant said it doesn’t misuse people’s private information, and that many WhatsApp users have voluntarily accepted the new policy, governments are still strongly opposed to it.

User information collected by WhatsApp are as follows:

• account information;
  messages (including undelivered messages, media forwarding);
  connections;
  status information;
  transactions and payments data;
  usage and log information;
  device and connection information;
  location information;
  cookies etc.
  Other information collected by WhatsApp include:
  battery level;
  signal strength;
  app version;
  browser information;
  mobile network;
  connection information (including phone number, mobile operator or ISP), language and time zone;
  Internet Protocol address;
  device operations information;
  social media identifiers.

Let me congratulate all the students of Federal University of Technology (FUTO) who will be graduating during the Special Convocation ceremony scheduled on  4th of June, 2021 at the Hall of Excellence. As FUTOites, we are built with tenacity, honour, excellence and service. I want to wish all of you a great career ahead. I met many when I visited our alma mater, in 2019, to deliver the last convocation lecture. Go into the world and thrive. And thanks again for choosing FUTO. Congratulations again.

Tekedia Institute is excited to note that Tekedia CollegeBoost will see an additional course from next month. It is a very practical course to help college students become more acquainted with modern work and office environments as they transition from college to companies. The course is titled “Workplace Productivity, Collaboration, and Automation”.

It was developed by workplace and automation guru,  Olanrewaju Oyinbooke, MCT, mMBA, Head of Data Management Office at AXA Mansard. The course has a lab, and through Microsoft, free development and design licenses are available.

Learn more about Tekedia CollegeBoost . I like to see those Tekedia T-shirts.

Good People, join me to welcome Kallys Computers & IT Solutions to Tekedia Mini-MBA which begins June 7. Kallys is a 360-degree IT Management and Support Services provider. It provides a range of IT support and Microsoft-centric business software and cloud solutions, to help  organizations modernize their IT, so they can compete and win in the digital economy.

Kallys offers solutions related to your business demands and needs. It has a team of dedicated IT professionals who ensure to use only the most innovative tools to secure, manage, and maximize IT system performance so that your business performs the best.

Tekedia Institute is honoured to be co-sharing and co-learning with this great company. If you are looking  IT  experts, please consider Kallys as you evaluate vendors. 

Great companies attend Tekedia Institute, and more companies will co-learn with us in 2021 than with any university or training school in Africa. Learn more about Tekedia Institute school.tekedia.com

Paytm, India’s leading digital payments provider, is aiming to raise about 218 billion rupees ($3 billion) in an initial public offering late this year, according to a person familiar with the deal, in what could be the country’s largest debut ever. Bloomberg has the story.

The startup, backed by investors including Berkshire Hathaway Inc., SoftBank Group Corp. and Ant Group Co., plans to list in India around November and its offering could coincide with the Diwali festival season, said the person, asking not to be named because the details are private.

Paytm, formally called One97 Communications Ltd., is targeting a valuation of around $25 billion to $30 billion.The One97 board plans to meet this Friday to formally approve the IPO, said the person. Paytm declined to comment in response to emailed questions.

If successful, Paytm’s initial share sale would surpass Coal India Ltd.’s offering, which raised more than 150 billion rupees in 2010 in the country’s largest IPO so far.Banks shortlisted to run the Paytm offering include Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., with Morgan Stanley the leading contender, the person said. The process is expected to get rolling in late June or early July. JPMorgan and Citigroup declined to comment; Morgan Stanley didn’t respond to requests for comment

The public market debut will include a mix of new and existing shares to meet regulatory obligations in India. The country’s regulations require that 10% of shares are floated within two years and 25% within five years.

Karan Sharma, co-head of the digital and technology investment banking practice at Mumbai-based Avendus Capital Pvt., said there is strong demand for tech IPOs. While giants like Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. have proven the potential for lucrative returns, there are few options for investors looking to get a foothold in India’s burgeoning digital economy.

“The market capitalization of companies listed on BSE has topped $3 trillion, but there are hardly any listed Internet companies in which investors can partake,” Sharma said, referring to the Bombay Stock Exchange. “There’s also massive latent demand from global investors who have large allocations for emerging markets.”

Paytm, led by founder and Chief Executive Officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma, has been focusing on ramping up revenue and monetizing its services over the past year. It’s expanded beyond digital payments into banking, credit cards, financial services, wealth management and digital wallets. It also supports India’s financial payments backbone, the Unified Payments Interface or UPI.

Paytm has fended off stiff competition from a swath of global players including Walmart Inc.-owned PhonePe, Google Pay, Amazon Pay as well as Facebook Inc.-owned WhatsApp Pay. It has the biggest market share of India’s merchant payments.Paytm has over 20 million merchant partners and its users make 1.4 billion monthly transactions, according to numbers in a recent company blog post.In a recent conversation, CEO Sharma said Paytm had its best ever quarter in the first three months of this year after pandemic-related spending spurred digital payments.

Sharma of Avendus says there are likely to be many India tech companies heading for public debuts in the next few years. He counts 57 that have grown to unicorn status, worth $1 billion or more.

“Many of these companies are seeing 50 to 60% growth annually, are profitable,” Sharma said. “The market is waiting for these companies to go public.”