A day after the Indian government asked Meta Platforms to put on hold the rollout of a new WhatsApp feature that would let users create personalised usernames, citing concerns that the tool could be exploited for online fraud, phishing and impersonation, the US company published a “frequently asked questions” on X, in an attempt to allay user concerns.
“Just like you can’t search for a phone number in WhatsApp, you can’t search for a username. The best way to prevent someone from contacting you is to add a username key and to choose a username that is unique to WhatsApp,” the company said.
A question on the minds of many users, who do not qualify for celebrity protection of usernames, is how severe the risk is of look-alike handles being used for targeted phishing or algorithmic scams.
“The risk is real, particularly in a country like India, where impersonation and social engineering already account for a significant share of digital fraud. Unlike celebrities, ordinary users are unlikely to have access to verification or expedited takedown mechanisms, making them more vulnerable to look-alike usernames,” Mishi Choudhary, technology lawyer and founder of SFLC.in, a Delhi-based legal not-for-profit organisation, told The Telegraph.
“If a user chooses to use the same username on WhatsApp that they already use on Instagram or Facebook, they have to link those accounts through Meta’s Accounts Center. Once the accounts are linked that way, Meta can see more about how they connect to each other. The actual messages stay private and encrypted. But a shared username makes it easier for Meta to tell that the same person is behind all three apps,” Prachir Singh, senior analyst, Counterpoint Research, told this newspaper.