Govt extends deadline for WhatsApp's response over username issue to July 9: Report

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology reportedly extended Meta's deadline for its response on the controversial WhatsApp username issue by another three days.

A government official told the Hindustan Times on Sunday that the new deadline has been extended to July 9.

Earlier, government officials had sought a response from WhatsApp by July 6 regarding concerns over its new username feature.

Sources had told HT that this notice to Meta was issued after the government called for a detailed explanation regarding the feature.

The government earlier also directed Meta not to roll out the feature in India until consultations on the matter are completed.

What is WhatsApp username feature?

The Meta-owned platform recently announced the usernames feature that will allow users to communicate without sharing their phone numbers.

The feature allows users to reserve their optional usernames by navigating to 'Settings', followed by 'Account' and 'Username' on the latest version of the app.

Meta said that a username is an optional unique identifier you can choose for your WhatsApp account.

It starts with the '@' symbol (for example, @Name123) and can be used by others to message or call a person, while keeping their phone number private.

The username is different from the display name (the name that appears in your profile). The display name doesn't have to be unique, but the username does.

According to Meta, people who don't have the persons' number saved will see their username instead by default.

This includes when they participate in group chats, message someone directly, or make calls on WhatsApp.

Their username will always start with an @ symbol. This is expected to make it easier for others to distinguish their username, display name, and phone number.

Meta says usernames are unique to each account. If the username a person wants is already taken, they will need to choose a different one.

Certain usernames are held for businesses, governments, or public figures and can't be claimed by others.

Why govt finds WhatsApp's username feature problematic

The ministry warned that WhatsApp's new username feature could facilitate impersonation, fraud and online scams.

"It is understood that once the feature is enabled, the recipient's phone number will no longer be visible to a first-time contact and that an optional 'username key' may be set as an additional control," the ministry's notice read.

“It is felt that the feature may materially increase the incidence of online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation attacks, by enabling bad actors to solicit and message victims," said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in its notice on July 1.

The ministry said this feature may also “facilitate impersonation and identity spoofing, including impersonation of individuals, public authorities, financial institutions, and government agencies, by permitting the adoption of usernames closely resembling those of genuine persons or institutions.”