Delhi high court seeks Centre’s reply on plea over Whatsapp policy

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Wednesday sought the response of the Centre and instant messaging platform Whatsapp on a plea challenging its new privacy policy.

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notices to the ministry of electronics and information technology and Whatsapp on the plea which has contended that the new policy is in violation of Right to Privacy of an individual.

The plea seeks directions to the authorities to provide an option to opt out of sharing the users’ personal data with Facebook, as mandated in the updated policy.

“Privacy has been held to be an intrinsic element of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a constitutional value which is embodied in the fundamental freedoms of the Indian Constitution,” the plea said.

Whatsapp on January 4 updated its privacy policy, allowing it to share user data with its parent company Facebook and other group firms . The move triggered a backlash across the world, including India which is Whatsapp biggest market with 400 million users and led to a surge in the downloading of alternative messaging apps such as Signal and Telegram. On Wednesday, the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, said that the Centre’s stand is clear that they have sent out questionnaires to Whatsapp on various issues seeking answers. He also said a Joint Parliamentary committee is looking in the matter. Whatsapp did not comment immediately but in its FAQS it has stated that it can’t see the personal messages or hear calls, and neither can Facebook.

“Whatever you share, it stays between you. That’s because your personal messages are protected by end-to-end encryption. We will never weaken this security,” the FAQS state.