Technology

New Delhi: A WhatsApp message is doing the rounds claiming that the government may have control over users’ WhatsApp. This is a false message as WhatsApp has not made any changes to its system and the government does not have access to anyone’s WhatsApp. The message reads - “Two blue ticks, and one red tick means the government can take action, while three red ticks will mean the government has started court proceedings against you." This comes amid an ongoing legal fight between the government and WhatsApp over the Facebook-owned instant messaging app’s latest terms of service and the government’s recently-introduced IT rules in the country.

The fake WhatsApp message has been circulated among many WhatsApp groups. It falsely claims that WhatsApp is bringing new communication rules for messages and calls that will connect devices to the government. The fake message also mentions that the new system will allow the law enforcement authorities to take action against people posting messages and videos that are critical of the government. All of this is false information as there is no change in WhatsApp’s system. It is also important to note that WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption for private chats so no one, including WhatsApp can read your conversations on the messaging platform - not even the government.

Now, such WhatsApp messages are commonplace in today’s time. A similar message was doing the rounds on WhatsApp around last year as well with similar claims of “red ticks" indicating government action against WhatsApp users.

WhatsApp users are advised not to forward such messages to their contacts. Given the timing of this message, it is easy for users to believe the message as WhatsApp is defending itself from the government’s action against the messaging platform, in lieu of the Indian government’s latest IT guidelines.

(With Agency Inputs)

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella initiated the Microsoft Build 2021 developers conference with a keynote address. In his speech, Nadella mentioned a host of updates that the tech major will be bringing soon across its products and services. A small mention therein was made for Microsoft Windows.

Nadella did not share any updates on Windows as such. Instead, he spoke of the company’s plans for the world-renowned operating system for the time to come. He mentioned that he has been testing “the next generation of Windows” in recent months and that the company will be bringing a significant update to Windows very soon.

New Delhi: Twitter verification has been a much-debated topic. While some have blamed a sometimes-inconsistent account verification policy previously with Twitter, others have fired allegations regarding how Twitter treats its ‘blue tick’ accounts preferentially. To even out all of this, a new Twitter verification phase and policy is rolling out starting today. Going forward, Twitter verification will gradually become available for users around the world, but in phases – as a result, you may not spot the feature in your account, immediately. However, today does mark the global rollout of a new, worldwide Twitter account verification policy, which will cover individuals of more fields, and also hope to address some of the burning issues around verified accounts on Twitter.

Popular messaging platform WhatsApp has been working on chat migration and sync features for quite some time and now it has come up with an update that has the potential to improve the features of the messaging platform.

According to WABetaInfo, the Facebook-owned platform might soon let users transfer their chats to a different phone number.

Presently, if you are looking to restore a backup of your WhatsApp chats, your phone is required to have the same number and operating system like the older device. The migration feature is in testing mode and therefore it is looking to enable users to move their messages to a new phone number.

New Delhi: Airtel has rolled out a range of COVID-19 support initiatives for customers by leveraging its digital platforms. The telecom provider has integrated easily accessible bouquet of Covid support resources and related information in the Airtel Thanks app’s Explore section. The resources include Co-WIN, COVID SOS, and a feature for businesses to create fee helplines for employees with an Airtel connection.

Covid SOS: Covid SOS aggregates verified and updated contacts for important supplies such as medicines, oxygen, plasma donors, ambulance, hospital beds (regular, O2, ICU), and testing centres. With a few clicks, the platform connects users to these service providers/resources and tries to ensure that users do not have to waste precious time to access this data. All the information available on COVID SOS is painstakingly verified by their teams. The platform is powered by Airtel IQ.