The government has issued a notice to Meta-owned WhatsApp over the planned rollout of the messaging service’s ‘username’ feature over concerns of impersonation and fraud and directed the company not to roll it out until a thorough consultation on the subject, The Indian Express has learnt.
Earlier this week, WhatsApp announced it would gradually allow users to select a username and hide their phone numbers when contacting another user for the first time. It is an optional unique identifier a user can choose for her WhatsApp account. It can also be used by others to message or call her, while keeping the phone number private.
Senior government officials said the Union Ministry of Home Affairs raised concerns with the Ministry of Electronics and IT. They said the government would undertake a risk assessment of the new feature, and see if it falls foul of the current legal architecture.
The government has asked Meta to furnish a detailed explanation on the username feature in the next three days, and has directed the company to not roll out the feature until consultation on the matter is over, an official said.
ALSO READ | Centre asks WhatsApp to not launch username feature in India
“As we understand now, there is a possibility that bad actors may claim usernames, or close-enough variations related to prominent personalities, institutions, and organisations, and message other users while pretending to be someone they are not. For those who may not be technologically aware to make out the difference, it could be a huge challenge. We have already seen bad actors carry out impersonation-linked scams such as digital arrests through WhatsApp, and this feature could further help them,” a senior government official said, requesting anonymity.
In a statement, WhatsApp said it plans to roll out the features slowly later this year, but clarified it has built safeguards. “To protect against impersonation, we’ve held the highest-profile names — think public figures, government entities, celebrities, verified Meta accounts — so they can only ever be claimed by their legitimate owners and lookalike derivatives of known names are held as well.”
It said the users still require a phone number to use WhatsApp and that it has built multiple layers of defense against scams into usernames. “Other users need to know the exact username to message you, we will limit how many new people an account can contact, block repeated attempts to guess someone’s username key, and have systems to detect and remove activity showing common impersonation and abuse patterns,” the WhatsApp spokesperson said.
Further, it said, when the feature becomes available and someone sends a message for the first time via the username, WhatsApp will show if they are a new account, if they are in contact, if they are in common groups, and if they are based in a different country, so that one can choose whether or not to respond, the spokesperson said.
Another government official said that during internal assessments and subsequent questioning of WhatsApp, if they do not think there are enough guardrails to protect against impersonation, the government may also look into whether the feature’s rollout should be stopped altogether.
Queries sent to the ministries of IT and Home Affairs remained unanswered until publication.
Paytm founder and Chief Executive Officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma has warned that look-alike usernames could become a major vector for impersonation and scams if not properly protected. “Soon you will have verified username on WhatsApp, and then unverified similar-sounding usernames,” he said in a post on social media platform X.
Mobikwik’s CEO Bipin Preet Singh said on X, “Not a good idea at all. Will lead to proliferation of fraud and impersonation. For example, I checked, most variations of my name already taken. Wonder what it can be used for.”
The company is billing the feature to make WhatsApp conversations more private as people would need to know the exact username of a person while contacting them if they do not already have their phone number. Messaging services such as Telegram and Signal already have their own versions of such a feature.
In a blog post announcing the feature, WhatsApp said, “Usernames are our latest step to make WhatsApp even more private. There’s no directory to browse and no suggestions — people will need to know your exact username to contact you for the first time.”
The feature has not yet been rolled out, and WhatsApp is currently allowing users to “reserve” a username for themselves to avoid overlaps with other users. For creators, small businesses, and organisations that may want to maintain a consistent presence online, WhatsApp will allow an option to claim their existing Instagram or Facebook username on WhatsApp.
The company said it takes impersonation-related abuse “seriously,” and will take action against users who may pretend to be someone else.
“WhatsApp takes impersonation and abuse seriously. If you think someone is pretending to be you or someone else on WhatsApp in order to scam other WhatsApp users, or attempting to buy, sell, or trade WhatsApp usernames, you should report the user and any suspicious messages so we can review and take action to protect our users,” WhatsApp said in an update on its help centre. It said it will remove usernames or ban accounts altogether that it believes violate its terms of service.
The government has asked Meta to furnish a detailed explanation on the username feature in the next three days. (Image: WhatsApp) 
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