WhatsApp responds to Indian government's order to pause the planned rollout of its username feature

Earlier this week, Meta-owned WhatsApp introduced the username feature, allowing its users to communicate with each other without sharing their phone numbers. The feature will roll out later this year, but WhatsApp is already allowing users to reserve their usernames.

The username feature raised security, privacy, and impersonation concerns among many, including the Indian government, which asked WhatsApp to pause the planned rollout of the feature under the IT Act, 2000, the IT Rules, 2021, and other applicable laws. You can see the images below to read the letter sent by the Indian government to WhatsApp.

Indian government's letter to WhatsApp regarding the username feature | Source

In response, WhatsApp said that users still need a phone number to use WhatsApp and that it has built multiple layers of defense against scams into its username system. Besides, to protect against impersonation, WhatsApp has reserved high-profile names (public figures, government entities, celebrities, verified Meta accounts) so they can be claimed only by their legitimate owners.

WhatsApp's username feature lets you communicate without sharing phone number

Here's the full statement we received from WhatsApp regarding this matter:

“We’ve announced the option for people to reserve their preferred username on WhatsApp. The ability to use a username is not yet live and will roll out slowly later this year. 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. Users still require a phone number to use WhatsApp and we’ve built multiple layers of defense against scams into usernames: Other users need to know the exact username to message you, we will limit how many new people an account can contact, block repeated attempts to guess someone’s username key, and have systems to detect and remove activity showing common impersonation and abuse patterns. When the feature becomes available and someone sends you a message for the first time via your username, we will show you if they're a new account, if they’re your contact, if you have groups in common, and if they’re based in a different country, so you can decide whether to respond.”

Reserving your WhatsApp username is optional, and you can do so by navigating to WhatsApp's Settings > Account > Username menu. If you don't see the option to reserve your username, try again after updating to the latest version of WhatsApp.