A double-edged sword

We all use WhatsApp to talk to our parents, friends, boyfriends and girlfriends, just about everyone. But in the daily exchange of sharing good morning messages, overnight party scenes, information about where to get alcohol on dry days and numerous other such activities, we tend to forget that all these messages are actually very public. Today, people from all age groups are users of this application yet only a few are aware of the details about privacy in the app. And in this world of private details being so disturbingly public, teenagers tend to do be the most vulnerable victims.

An increasing number people are landing in trouble because of the content they share on WhatsApp. Delhi Police registered an FIR on the basis of a complaint by a woman who alleged that two men passed lewd comments on her character in a WhatsApp group chat. Thirty-four pilots were questioned because of their group chat in which they spoke about the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). We speak to teenezins about how careful they are while texting and sharing on WhatsApp.

Eighteen-year-old Srishti Sharma has been using WhatsApp since last year. She admits having heard news related to WhatsApp chats, but feels that at her age, there is hardly anything that could get her in trouble. “I don’t feel that I can get in trouble. Of course, we speak about our party scenes on WhatsApp. I’m about to get into college and I know I will be a part of many WhatsApp groups. If there’s a long discussion about anything, I always prefer calling that person. I just try minding certain limits on social media,” says Srishti.

But Satyabhan Singh, a first-year student of journalism, prefers being cautious. He says that he is very careful in terms of what he is messaging and makes sure that he uses the right emoticons so that sarcasm looks like sarcasm and humour doesn’t sound offending. “I try being very careful on WhatsApp, even if it’s not a group chat. It happens very often that we say something in a humorous way and the other person takes it very seriously and gets offended by it. In terms of privacy, even if it is displayed that our messages are encrypted every time we start a new chat, I’m afraid that those encryptions can be easily hacked,” says the 19-year-old.

According to Pavan Duggal, cyber law expert, any expectation of our messages on WhatsApp being private must be instantly discarded. “There is nothing known as private on WhatsApp. There is also no safety and immunity from legal experts on the app. According to Section 39 of the Indian Information Technology Act, 2000 — which talks about liability of networks and its providers — if you are a WhatsApp group administrator, you also become a network service provider. This means that a WhatApp group admin will be held credible for anything against the law that is published on the group. That’s why people are finding themselves on the other side of the law these days,” says Pavan.

When nineteen-year-old Sehaj Sachdeva, who is admin of multiple groups on WhatsApp, got to know about the above, he felt both responsible and scared. “Nothing vulgar or offensive has been shared on my groups, which have a lot of my friends. We discuss about our classes and share jokes. But yes, after knowing about this law, I do feel that I should take responsibility so that none of us gets in trouble,” says Sehaj.

Terming the app a “double-edged sword”, Pavan adds, “On WhatsApp, it is like you are yourself putting your neck in the hands of another person. The other person will twist it and you won’t get to know how a small issue turned into a big one.”