The Government of India has issued a notice to Meta a few days after the latter announced the roll out of 'WhatsApp Usernames'. 

While WhatsApp claimed this was created to provide privacy to its users by protecting phone numbers, the Government has concerns of impersonation and fraud. It directed the company not to roll it out until a thorough consultation on the subject, according to several media reports.

The Government has asked Meta to unveil a detailed explanation on the username feature and asked it to not roll it out.

At the time of the roll out, WhatsApp had stated that usernames will not be available to browse through, which means, only if a person has shared a username with someone, do they have access to it. 

Further, if a person seeks to take a username identical to an Instagram account, a verification is required on the latter.

Responding to this, WhatsApp, stated that it has built the required safeguards.

In a statement published by The Indian Express, it stated, “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.”