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UK govt loses court battle over Johnson’s Covid WhatsApps

The material must now be handed to the inquiry by 4pm on Monday. The government said it will “comply fully” with the High Court judgment…reports Asian Lite News

The Cabinet Office has lost its legal bid to withhold Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and notebooks from the COVID-19 Inquiry.

Inquiry chair Baroness Hallett issued an order – known as a section 21 notice – for the government to release the former prime minister’s documents in May.

The Cabinet Office argued some of the content was “unambiguously irrelevant” and brought a judicial review against the notice.

But in a judgement published on Thursday, the High Court ruled while “some irrelevant documents” may be included in the material requested, that “does not invalidate the notice or mean that the section 21 cannot be lawfully exercised”.

It dismissed the Cabinet Office’s claim for judicial review, but said but said the department could make a different application to Baroness Hallett.

The material must now be handed to the inquiry by 4pm on Monday. The government said it will “comply fully” with the High Court judgment.

A spokesperson said: “The inquiry is an important step to learn lessons from the pandemic and the government is cooperating in the spirit of candour and transparency.

“As this judgment acknowledges, our judicial review application was valid as it raised issues over the application of the Inquiries Act 2005 that have now been clarified. The court’s judgment is a sensible resolution and will mean that the inquiry chair is able to see the information she may deem relevant, but we can work together to have an arrangement that respects the privacy of individuals and ensures completely irrelevant information is returned and not retained.”

Responding to the ruling, Labour’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said: “While the rest of the country battles the cost-of-living crisis, Rishi Sunak has been wasting time and taxpayers’, money on doomed legal battles to withhold evidence from the COVID Inquiry.

“After this latest humiliating defeat, the prime minister must accept the ruling and comply with the inquiry’s requests for evidence in full.

Deborah Doyle, spokesperson for COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said the judicial review lodged by the government “was a desperate waste of time and money”.

“The inquiry needs to get to the facts if the country is to learn lessons that will save lives in the future,” she said. “That means it needs to be able to access all of the evidence, not just what the Cabinet Office wants it to see. A successful inquiry could save thousands of lives in the event of another pandemic, and it’s a disgrace that the Cabinet Office is trying to obstruct it. Any attempt to appeal this decision or hinder its work further would be utterly shameful.”

In their ruling, Lord Justice Dingemans and Justice Garnham concluded Baroness Hallett had “acted rationally” when making her order.

Addressing the concern that unrelated material could be seen by the inquiry, the two judges noted that the Cabinet Office could make an application arguing “that it is unreasonable to produce material which does not relate to a matter in question at the inquiry” – and that it would be for the chair to “rule on that application”.

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Tech Lite

WhatsApp bans over 65 lakh bad accounts in India

In the month of April, WhatsApp, which has more than 500 million users in India, had banned a record over 74 lakh bad accounts…reports Asian Lite News

Meta-owned WhatsApp banned more than 65 lakh bad accounts in India in the month of May, in compliance with the new IT Rules 2021, the company said on Sunday.

Between May 1 and May 31, 6,508,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned and 2,420,700 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users in the country.

In the month of April, WhatsApp, which has more than 500 million users in India, had banned a record over 74 lakh bad accounts.

The most popular messaging platform also received 3,912 grievance reports like “ban appeals” in May in the country, and the records “actioned” were 297.

“Accounts Actioned” denotes reports where WhatsApp took remedial action based on the report and taking action denotes either banning an account or a previously banned account being restored as a result.

“This user-safety report contains details of the user complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp, as well as WhatsApp’s own preventive actions to combat abuse on our platform,” according to the company.

In a bid to empower millions of Indian social media users, the Centre recently launched the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) that will look into their concerns regarding content and other issues.

The newly-formed panel, a move to strengthen the country’s digital laws to tame the Big Tech companies, will look into appeals by users against decisions of social media platforms.

In a major push towards an open, safe, trusted and accountable Internet, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has notified some amendments aimed at protecting the rights of ‘Digital Nagriks’.

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Social Media

WhatsApp Business surpasses 200 mn monthly users

Meta said it’s also testing letting businesses automatically send personalized messages to multiple customers for a fee…reports Asian Lite News

Meta (formerly Facebook) on Tuesday announced that WhatsApp Business has surpassed 200 million monthly active users globally, up from 50 million in 2020.

Soon, businesses will be able to publish ads directly to Facebook or Instagram from the app and there will be no requirement of a Facebook account, said Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Meta said it’s also testing letting businesses automatically send personalized messages to multiple customers for a fee.

“Starting soon we’ll begin testing a new feature within the WhatsApp Business app where small businesses will have the option to send personalised messages to their customers — like appointment reminders, birthday greetings or even updates on a holiday sale — in a faster and more efficient way,” the company said in a statement.

This new feature will allow businesses to send personalised messages with the customer’s name and customisable call-to-action buttons to specific customer lists, such as those with a select label (like ‘VIP customers’ or ‘new customers’), schedule the day and time the messages are sent.

WhatsApp to launch darker top app bar

WhatsApp, continues its tradition of regularly introducing updates to its millions of users worldwide. Of late, it has introduced several new features that have not only enhanced user-experience but also eased the way the app is used. In its latest update, WhatsApp is working on a darker top app bar exclusively for Android users, aiming to further enhance user experience and improve the app’s usability. This exciting feature is currently in the development stage, as reported by WABetainfo.

The darker top app bar is expected to be an upgrade to the existing dark mode, offering a distinct visual experience for users while navigating the messaging platform. It is expected to be rolled out to beta testers in a future update of the app.

By introducing a darker theme based on grayscale and black tones, WhatsApp not only aims to provide an aesthetically pleasing interface but also promises enhanced performance. Users with AMOLED screens on their advanced mobile devices will particularly benefit from this update, according to the report.

With this change, WhatsApp hopes to further align its application with the style of Material Design 3, and it seems the developers also want to add a sense of modernity to the theme, which has not received updates for this interface for many years, the report said, adding that the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.13.17 update, available on the Google Play Store, revealed the app’s plans to introduce changes for the top app bar while using the dark theme.

The report also shared a screenshot showing the major differences that users might be able to witness between the current and the future version.

While the update is expected to be made available for Android users, it is still uncertain when it will be offered for iOS users.

This is not the only update that is presently under development. After recently introducing the ‘Silence Unknown Callers’ and ‘Edit’ messages features, WhatsApp is now reportedly also working to develop a new feature that will help users to set the duration for pinned messages.

With this feature, users will be able to select the duration for which they want their messages to remain pinned within chats and groups.

ALSO READ-WhatsApp introduces new feature ‘Channels’

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Social Media

WhatsApp introduces new feature ‘Channels’

WhatsApp.

Channels in a new tab called Updates – where you’ll find Status and channels you choose to follow – separate from your chats with family, friends, and communities…reports Asian Lite News

WhatsApp keeps its users engaged with new features and updates for the platform. Now it has introduced a new feature called ‘WhatsApp Channels’.

As per The Verge, an American technology news website, the latest WhatsApp feature introduces a new type of communication to the world’s most popular chat app. It’s known as Channels, and it’s intended for one-to-many broadcasting rather than discussion. The Meta-owned firm described it as “a private way to follow what matters,” and mentions local and sports updates as examples of how you may use it.

Channels in a new tab called Updates – where you’ll find Status and channels you choose to follow – separate from your chats with family, friends, and communities.

Channels are a one-way broadcast tool for admins to send text, photos, videos, stickers, and polls. To help select channels to follow, the company is building a searchable directory where you can find your hobbies, sports teams, updates from local officials, and more.

This feature comes with most private broadcast service available. This starts by protecting the personal information of both admins and followers. As a channel admin, your phone number and profile photo won’t be shown to followers. Likewise, following a channel won’t reveal your phone number to the admin or other followers. Who you decide to follow is your choice and it’s private.

According to WhatsApp statement quoted by The Verge repory, privacy is an important component of the experience, which is why channel admins’ information isn’t shared and the app only saves 30 days of a channel’s history. Admins can even prevent screenshots and forwarding, ensuring that what is in the channel remains in the channel. Channels, on the other hand, are not end-to-end encrypted; they are regarded more like your messages with businesses, which are also not completely private. However, WhatsApp has stated that it is considering ways to encrypt some channels in the future.

WhatsApp is gradually evolving into more than just a messaging software. Just in the last few months, the company has made it possible to use one account on multiple phones, has been working on a private newsletter tool and a new usernames system, has added polls, shopping, and a slew of other Facebook-y things to the platform, has revamped its Status system, improved its group chats, and much more. Channels is simply the latest attempt by WhatsApp to integrate social media into chat.

Channels, like most WhatsApp innovations, is starting small. The company intends to establish channels with leading global voices and select organizations in Colombia and Singapore, where Channels will first be available, to build, learn, and adapt the experience. It will expand to more nations and make channel creation open to more users “in the coming months.” WhatsApp is certainly still primarily a messaging service – billions of people use it to communicate with friends and family. However, as it seeks to expand, generate more money, and become the all-encompassing super app it desires, it is attempting to be much more than that. (ANI)

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WhatsApp rolling out screen-sharing feature for video calls

SC refuses to entertain WhatsApp-Meta pleas against CCI probe into privacy policy

The new community entry point shortcut will be available within the community announcement group and will allow users to easily see a list of all the groups linked to the community…reports Asian Lite News

Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is widely rolling out a new community entry point shortcut on iOS.

The official changelog of the app’s update still mentions features from some previous updates, which reveals that they are still in the process of gradual release, reports WABetaInfo.

The new community entry point shortcut will be available within the community announcement group and will allow users to easily see a list of all the groups linked to the community.

Moreover, this feature allows community admins to quickly add a new group to the community without going to the community info.

“If you don’t have this feature, note that some accounts may receive it over the coming weeks, even if this is not indicated in the official changelog,” the report said.

Meanwhile, last week, it was reported that the messaging platform was rolling out a screen-sharing feature for video calls to some testers on iOS. This new option lets beta users share the content of their screen with everyone on the call.

When using this feature, all activities on the users’ screen — including notifications — will be captured and shared with the people connected to the video call.

ALSO READ-Johnson hands over Covid-era WhatsApps  

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-Top News UK News

Johnson hands over Covid-era WhatsApps  

Boris Johnson and Joe Biden.

The inquiry will cover the government’s management of the pandemic, particularly at the beginning when Britain was slower than many European countries to respond…reports Asian Lite News

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given his pandemic-era notebooks and messages to the government and urged officials to pass them on to an independent COVID-19 inquiry, his spokesman said on Wednesday.

The Cabinet Office, which is responsible for overseeing the operation of government, is in a standoff with the inquiry over whether it should hand over material it deems to be irrelevant to the investigation.

“All Boris Johnson’s material – including WhatsApps and notebooks – requested by the COVID inquiry has been handed to the Cabinet Office in full and in unredacted form,” the spokesman’s statement said.

“Mr Johnson urges the Cabinet Office to urgently disclose it to the inquiry.”

After Britain recorded one of the world’s highest number of COVID deaths, Johnson’s government in 2021 ordered an inquiry into the country’s preparedness as well as its public health and economic response.

With a national election expected next year, the detailed examination of decision making could be politically uncomfortable for both Johnson and current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was finance minister during the pandemic.

The inquiry will cover the government’s management of the pandemic, particularly at the beginning when Britain was slower than many European countries to respond.

Chaired by former judge Heather Hallett, the inquiry had given the government until Thursday afternoon to hand over Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and diaries.

The Cabinet Office did not immediately respond for a request for comment. In a statement issued on Tuesday, it said: “We are firmly of the view that the inquiry does not have the power to request unambiguously irrelevant information that is beyond the scope of this investigation. This includes the WhatsApp messages of government employees which are not about work but instead are entirely personal and relate to their private lives.”

Johnson, whose personal conduct during the COVID-19 pandemic has been heavily criticised and who incurred a police fine for breaking lockdown regulations, said he would cooperate with the inquiry in full.

“While Mr Johnson understands the government’s position, and does not seek to contradict it, he is perfectly happy for the inquiry to have access to this material in whatever form it requires,” the spokesman said.

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Social Media Tech Lite

Soon, link WhatsApp account to 2nd iOS device

The report also noted that those users, who don’t have this feature, may receive it over the coming weeks…reports Asian Lite News

Meta-owned WhatsApp is now rolling out a ‘companion mode’ feature to iPhone users, which will allow them to link an existing account to a second iOS device.

With this feature, users can link up to four devices simultaneously, meaning they can connect even more than two mobile phones to their WhatsApp account, reports WABetaInfo.

Earlier, the company rolled out the ‘companion mode’ feature to Android users but now the company is finally releasing the ability to link an iPhone as a second device to everyone.

Moreover, the report said that users’ personal messages and calls will remain end-to-end encrypted even when using WhatsApp from a linked mobile phone.

Users can link their existing WhatsApp account to a secondary iPhone by scanning the QR Code.

After linking the WhatsApp account to another iPhone, users’ chat history will safely be synchronised across all their linked devices, the report mentioned.

The report also noted that those users, who don’t have this feature, may receive it over the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp is reportedly rolling out a new feature called ‘screen-sharing’, along with a new placement for tabs within the bottom navigation bar, to beta testers on Android.

This feature will allow users to easily share their screen during a video call.

ALSO READ-WhatsApp’s new feature to let users create stickers within app

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Tech Lite Technology

WhatsApp’s new feature to let users create stickers within app

WhatsApp.

The feature will allow users to select a photo from their library and edit it with tools such as the ability to remove the background….reports Asia Lite News

Meta-owned WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature — “sticker maker tool”, which will let users create stickers right within the application on iOS.

According to WABetaInfo, the company plans to introduce a “New Sticker” option within the chat share action sheet.

The feature will allow users to select a photo from their library and edit it with tools such as the ability to remove the background.

Moreover, the report mentioned that the new feature will save users from downloading third-party applications.

The report also noted that a similar tool is already available on WhatsApp Web and Desktop, but the one in development on iOS will provide users with additional tools.

The ability to create stickers using an in-app sticker maker tool is in the works and will be included in a future app update.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp is reportedly rolling out a new group calling feature on macOS devices, which will allow users to make group calls with a selected number of participants.

Earlier, it was not possible to start a group call as the button was either disabled or not functioning on macOS.

However, in the latest update of the WhatsApp beta, the call buttons (audio and video) are finally available, and users can now start a group call.

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Tech Lite USA

Zuckerberg announces Chat Lock on WhatsApp

The feature will be important for people who have reason to share their phones from time to time with a family member or those moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra special chat arrives…reports Asian Lite News

Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday announced a new WhatsApp feature called Chat Lock to safeguard intimate chats.

The feature will let users protect their most intimate conversations with a password and secures them in a separate folder.

“New locked chats in WhatsApp make your conversations more private. They’re hidden in a password protected folder and notifications won’t show sender or message content,” said Zuckerberg.

Locking a chat takes that thread out of the inbox and puts it behind its own folder that can only be accessed with your device password or biometric, like a fingerprint.

“It also automatically hides the contents of that chat in notifications, too,” said the company.

The feature will be important for people who have reason to share their phones from time to time with a family member or those moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra special chat arrives.

“You can lock a chat by tapping the name of a one-to-one or group and selecting the lock option. To reveal these chats, slowly pull down on your inbox and enter your phone password or biometric,” said WhatsApp.

Over the next few months, the company will add more options for Chat Lock, including locking for companion devices and “creating a custom password for your chats so that you can use a unique password different from the one you use for your phone”.

ALSO READ-IT ministry to send notice to WhatsApp over spam calls

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IT ministry to send notice to WhatsApp over spam calls

One of the problems being examined at this point is also how these numbers are accessed by scammers…reports Asian Lite News

The IT Ministry will send a notice to WhatsApp on the issue of spam calls from unknown international numbers, Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said today, asserting that the onus of ensuring user safety lies with the digital platforms.

The digital platforms are responsible and accountable for ensuring the safety of ‘digital nagriks’, the minister said, adding that the government will respond to every instance of alleged misuse or alleged breach of users’ privacy.

The minister’s comments assume significance as WhatsApp users in India have reported a massive surge in incoming international spam calls over the past few days. Many users complained on Twitter that a major chunk of these spam calls had country codes belonging to Indonesia (+62), Vietnam (+84), Malaysia (+60), Kenya (+254) and Ethiopia (+251).

Chandrasekhar on Tuesday said the ministry is taking note of the matter and will send a notice to WhatsApp on the issue.

“The Ministry is taking note of it, they will send them a notice,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by the Public Affairs Forum of India (PAFI).

He also said that the government is mulling guidelines on what should be permissions for preloaded apps.  The minister made it clear that the platforms are responsible for ensuring the safety and trust of users.

“I have said repeatedly that openness trust, safety and accountability are the responsibility of platforms who deliver to digital nagriks. If there is an issue of spam, it is certainly an issue WhatsApp should look at or any messenger platform should look at, he added.

“Government will respond to every alleged misuse or alleged breach of privacy,” he said.

One of the problems being examined at this point is also how these numbers are accessed by scammers.

“How are they able to identify which numbers are on WhatsApp…are they doing it blindly…is it some database they have got? If there is a database it is a violation of privacy, or if not are they are doing it through a bot… sending messages to random numbers… But that is certainly something platforms will be asked to look at,” he said.

Chandrasekhar tweeted on Wednesday that the government will investigate a claim that WhatsApp accessed the microphone of smartphone users while the phone was not in use.

In a tweet, the minister had said the government will examine the alleged breach of privacy even as the new Digital Personal Data Protection Bill was being readied.

This followed a claim that WhatsApp accessed a user’s microphone while he was sleeping.

WhatsApp responded saying it has been in touch with the Twitter engineer over the last 24 hours, who posted an issue with his Pixel phone and WhatsApp.

“We believe this is a bug on Android that misattributes information in their Privacy Dashboard and have asked Google to investigate and remediate,” WhatsApp said in a tweet.

The company also claimed that users have full control over their mic settings.

To a question on some online gaming platforms opposing any idea of the self-regulatory organisation (SRO) backed by the association IAMAI, the minister said it has already been clarified during the consultation process that no existing industry organisation can be an SRO.

“SRO has to be notified by the Ministry, which means SRO has to be approved by the Ministry as meeting criteria laid down in online gaming rules. There will be SRO that will be formed…100 will apply, and three will be selected based on who is most transparent, inclusive and who represents most stakeholders and who is more credible,” the minister said.

On the draft digital personal data protection Bill, Mr Chandrasekhar said he is hopeful that it will be introduced in the coming session of Parliament.

ALSO READ-Indian WhatsApp users flooded with spam calls