WhatsApp’s newly announced username-based identity feature could pose a significant challenge for law enforcement agencies investigating cybercrime, an IPS officer has warned, drawing parallels to similar issues already seen on rival platform Telegram.
“The username-based identity feature of WhatsApp may emerge as a major challenge for law enforcement agencies. With a similar feature, Telegram has often figured in investigations involving investment scams, impersonation and cybercrime,” IPS officer Arun Bothra wrote on X.
He cautioned that the scale of WhatsApp’s user base makes the risk especially significant. “WhatsApp is much bigger. At the scale of billions of users, even small design choices can have enormous public safety implications,” he added.
The username-based identity feature of WhatsApp may emerge as a major challenge for law enforcement agencies. With a similar feature, Telegram has often figured in investigations involving investment scams, impersonation and cybercrime.#WhatsApp is much bigger. At the… pic.twitter.com/N3LQV66LVr
— Arun Bothra ???????? (@arunbothra) June 30, 2026
The warning comes after WhatsApp officially announced its username feature in a blog post on Monday, allowing users to chat with one another without revealing their phone numbers.
Starting this week, users can reserve a unique username to use once the feature is fully launched later this year, with the company saying the process takes just a few seconds.
The feature, expected to roll out gradually to WhatsApp’s nearly three billion users worldwide over the coming months, is aimed at enhancing user privacy, with the company emphasising that usernames can be changed or removed at any time.
WhatsApp’s head of product, Alice Newton-Rex, reportedly said user feedback indicated a preference for not having to share phone numbers, particularly in group chats, adding that the feature is meant to “give users control over how they choose to show up” on the app.
The company has said usernames will be capped at 35 characters, with high-profile figures and celebrities barred from using their names to prevent impersonation, while users will retain options to block or report unwanted messages.
Bothra’s concern echoes patterns already documented on Telegram, where username-based, number-free communication has made it easier for scammers and fraudsters operating investment scams and impersonation rackets to evade identification by investigators.
WhatsApp has built in an optional username key requirement, meaning others would need to know this key to message a user via their username, as a safeguard against unsolicited contact. The future’s broader rollout and how Indian authorities respond to its law enforcement implications remain to be seen.
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