JOIN USPrivacy policy: SC asks WhatsApp to publicise undertaking given to Centre
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed WhatsApp to give wide publicity in media that its users would not be bound to accept its 2021 privacy policy and also its functionality would not be affected till the new data protection bill comes into effect.
WhatsApp, in a response to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s letter, had in May 2021 assured that it will not limit functionality for users who do not accept the new privacy policy update.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice K M Joseph observed that giving wide publicity to the WhatsApp undertaking would benefit those who have not agreed to the terms of its 2021 privacy policy. The top court asked WhatsApp to give advertisements in five newspapers regarding its undertaking given to the government.
The bench, also comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy, and C T Ravikumar, said, “We further direct that WhatsApp will give publicity to this aspect to the customers in five national newspapers on two occasions”.
"We record the submission of the senior counsel for WhatsApp that they will abide by the terms of the letter till the next date of hearing,” the bench added.
The court also noted that Centre’s counsel has brought to its notice that a digital personal data protection bill 2022 is about to be placed before the Parliament, and it is their contention that the bill would cover most of the aspects which are subject matter of petitions before this court and the matter may be taken up at a later stage.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal also supported the stand taken by Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of the Centre.
However, the petitioners’ counsel contended that the law should not come in the way of addressing issues raised in the petitions before the apex court. The petitioners’ counsel said stand by WhatsApp for its customers in Europe stands in stark contrast with its stand taken here and urged the court to hear the matter. The petitioners’ counsel stressed that the privacy policy should have the option to opt-out from data sharing.
Following the day-long arguments, the court passed an interim direction in a batch of petitions challenging the privacy policy of WhatsApp and scheduled the matter for further hearing on April 11.
Senior advocate Arvind Datar represented Meta. Senior advocates Shyam Divan and K V Viswanathan represented the petitioners’ along with other counsel.
Two students, Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi filed the plea against the contract entered into between WhatsApp and its parent Facebook to provide access to calls, photographs, texts, videos, and documents shared by users, claiming it was a violation of their privacy and free speech.