WhatsApp will receive blow after blow in the next period due to the problems that phone applications have had in the last year, and finally it is something that Americans have probably come to expect. We are talking about the fact that WhatsApp is going to have the security of its applications checked by at least the Indian government, which no longer trusts that the Americans can keep the data of the people who use its platform safe.
WhatsApp has over 200 million users in India alone, that is, somewhere over 10% of the global total, and the government there is worried that a fifth of the population does not benefit from the proper protection when using the platform. Okay, the Indian government is more worried that it can't spy on citizens as it wants, but until that happens, it wants to do a security audit for WhatsApp and its applications, which is the beginning of the problems.
HIT for WhatsApp due to PROBLEMS on Phones
WhatsApp will definitely fail in this audit because it will more than likely not be able to demonstrate that it offers the level of security that the government requires, and from here it will be required to store locally the data recorded by users in the application. When this happens, the Indian government will be able to compel local companies, which are used by WhatsApp, to give it access to the data that citizens have registered there, and this is where the abuses will begin.
WhatsApp provides access to data for governments based on court orders, but the local storage of data will allow the governments of various countries to obtain access to data much more easily, without asking anything from the company. Countries like India, Brazil, and many others in Asia or Africa are just waiting for someone to force WhatsApp to store their data locally, and then everyone will do so, including in Europe, where the same thing is required.
WhatsApp doesn't really have anything to do, because it can't wage wars on several fronts, and if India succeeds in forcing it to do exactly what it wants, then it is expected that all countries will do the same.
