WhatsApp tells SC chat history not shared

Instant messaging service provider WhatsApp on Monday submitted before the Supreme Court that it was ready to undertake that chats between two individuals are not shared with anybody else.  WhatsApp also claimed that the chat history is neither available to the service provider.

A five-judge bench presided over by Justice Dipak Misra, however, said it would consider if the free choice of an individual and his freedom of speech and expression got impeded with the change of policy by WhatsApp after its acquisition by Facebook in 2016.

“We would consider if fear and anxiety of individual in sharing of messages affected Article 21 (right to life and liberty) of the Constitution,” the bench said, as it started hearing the challenge to the privacy policy of the service provider.

Advocates K K Venugopal and Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Facebook, contended that the issue involved the right to privacy and had to be referred to the Constitution bench for adjudication.

Till the Constitution Bench passed its judgement, the matter should not be heard, they submitted. “I am willing to undertake at no point of time, a message conveyed by A to B is being made available to C for personal use. At no point of time, it is available for WhatsApp,” Venugopal said.

The bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri, Amitava Roy, A M Khanwilkar and Mohan M Shantanagoundar, said, “We would consider what portion of the policy affected the fundamental rights of citizens here.”

Senior advocate K V Viswanathan, representing the Internet Freedom Foundation, submitted that the apex court was to lay down guidelines to protect the rights of the citizenry as a lot of data sets are created by WhatsApp on the basis of health, sexual preferences and other choices.

These details could be exploited to the great peril of the citizens as there were 1.6 billion users, he said, adding that consent taken by the service provider was deceptive. Advocate Madhvi Divan, representing the Union government, submitted that technology has outpaced regulators.

Faces action
These service providers have been slapped with action in other jurisdictions. It is clearly ironical that for these foreign companies, there is no fundamental rights.Their actions have affected fundamental rights of freedom of speech, freedom to professions, besides the right to privacy, she contended.