WhatsApp

According to Nasfund’s Chief Executive Officer, Rajeev Sharma, the system is the latest addition to its suite of digital offerings under the Funds eBranch services launched in October 2023.

“At Nasfund, we are committing to leveraging technology to improve the member experience and the WhatsApp Appointment System is another step forward in fulfilling this commitment,” Sharma said.

WhatsApp users are to be given the option to have their messages disappear after 24 hours, a change that drew immediate criticism from children’s charities.

In a blog post announcing the change, WhatsApp, which has 2 billion users, said its mission was to “connect the world privately”.

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook and its family of apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp, were inaccessible for hours on Monday, taking out a vital communications platform used by billions and showcasing just how dependent the world has become on a company that is under intense scrutiny.

"We're aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products," Facebook said on Twitter. "We're working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience."
Outage tracking site Down Detector logged tens of thousands of reports for each of the services. Facebook's own site would not load at all for about an hour on Monday; Instagram and WhatsApp were accessible, but could not load new content or send messages.

WhatsApp alerted users to the controversial change to its privacy policy via an in-app notification which asks them to agree to share personal data, including their phone number and IP address, with Facebook.

“By tapping Agree, you accept the new terms, which take effect on February 8, 2021,” the notification states, adding “After this date, you’ll need to accept the new terms to continue using WhatsApp. You can also visit the Help Center if you would prefer to delete your account."

Users who do not accept the new policy by February 8 will lose access to their accounts.

Several countries, including the UK, have criticised China for imposing new security laws, which they say threaten the territory's long-standing autonomy.

Facebook said it would stop considering the requests, "pending further assessment" of the human rights issues.

No personal information about users in the region was held at or disclosed from its Hong Kong office, it added.

"We believe freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and support the right of people to express themselves without fear for their safety or other repercussions," Facebook said.

The new designs and features for its apps are a direct response to widespread criticism of how the firm protects user data.

Mr Zuckerberg said the company plans to put privacy first.

He acknowledged that there was much to do to rebuild trust.

In a speech to developers, Mr Zuckerberg described the firm's new focus on privacy as "a major shift" in how the company is run.

Some of the more visible changes to those who use the firm's products will include:

WhatsApp itself has said, since the start of last year, it will not charge its customers, and Facebook relies on keeping its service free to users.

If you have received one of these messages, delete it and ignore it instead of passing it on, experts have warned.

There doesn't seem to be any danger to those participating in the hoax, except for wasting their time.

With more than 1 billion monthly users, WhatsApp provides a precious service to people all over the world, keeping them in touch with friends and family.

The regulators took issue with the messaging app's plan to share user data with parent company Facebook.

A group of watchdogs and regulators from EU nations, known as the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, said WhatsApp had not fixed issues raised.

WhatsApp and Facebook have yet to reply to the BBC's request for comment.

Facebook bought the messaging app in 2014 and pledged to keep it independent from its social network.

Many reported that voice messaging and pictures wouldn't send without a virtual private network (VPN) to circumvent China's censorship filters.

The seemed to be working normally on Wednesday morning, but there have been more interruptions since then.

The disruptions come as China clamps down on online platforms.

What was the disruption?

Users began noticing over the weekend that WhatsApp wouldn't send pictures, voice messages and video, although text messages continued to work normally.