WhatsApp Username Debate: Will Hiding Phone Numbers Reduce Or Fuel Frauds?

by · Inc42

SUMMARY

  • In late June, Meta announced a phased global rollout of usernames, allowing users to reserve a unique handle to eventually enable communication without sharing phone numbers
  • However, the IT ministry has issued a notice to Meta to suspend the rollout of the feature in India and explain how it plans to mitigate the risks it could introduce
  • While Meta argues that usernames will reduce phone-number harvesting, experts believe that phone numbers still remain "the strongest form of identifier"
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Meta’s latest WhatsApp feature has landed in a classic catch-22 situation. The company wants to enhance user privacy on the messaging platform by replacing phone numbers with usernames. But in India, the privacy layer is being viewed as a potential threat, as it can be easily violated by cyber criminals.

On June 29, 2026, Meta announced a phased global rollout of usernames, allowing users to reserve a unique handle beginning with an @ symbol and eventually communicate without sharing their phone numbers. 

The company billed it as WhatsApp’s biggest identity overhaul since launch, arguing that usernames would reduce phone-number harvesting from group chats, limit exposure to SIM-swap attacks and give users greater control over who can contact them.

Within 48 hours, however, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a notice directing Meta to suspend the rollout of the feature in India and explain, within three days, how it plans to mitigate the risks it could introduce.

According to the ministry, usernames “may materially increase the incidence of online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation attacks, by enabling bad actors to solicit and message victims”. 

WhatsApp has been directed not to enable the feature for Indian users until the concerns are addressed. 

As of July 2, the feature remains on hold in India even as users in select international markets have begun reserving usernames. 

Meanwhile, as per a PTI report, the ministry has also sent similar notices to Telegram and Signal. 

The Rationale Behind Assigning Usernames

Ever since its inception, WhatsApp only operated on phone numbers. This made users vulnerable to losing their phone numbers and getting added to unknown groups. 

With usernames, the WhatsApp gentry will now have a separate public identity. However, this does not make the mechanism susceptible to leaks either.

According to Anant Agrawal, the MD and CEO of Skillmine Technology Consulting, there are privacy benefits that come with the username rollout. Phone numbers themselves have become personally identifiable information routinely exposed through public groups and business interactions. 

The feature also carries a broader strategic benefit for Meta. Several analysts see usernames as another step toward creating a common identity layer across WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, making it easier for the company to build a more integrated ecosystem for messaging, creators and businesses.

The Security Question

With more than 853.8 Mn users, India is WhatsApp’s largest market. Amid this, the government’s objections hold heft due to the country’s worsening cybercrime landscape. 

Indians lost an estimated ₹22,495 Cr (about $2.7 Bn) to cybercrime in 2025, while complaint volumes rose 24% year-on-year to nearly 2.81 Mn cases, according to data from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Cumulative losses over the past six years have crossed a total of ₹53,000 Cr.