WhatsApp has recently been under scrutiny regarding its privacy policy. According to a TOI report, Facebook, which owns the messaging app, has told the Supreme Court that people who are unhappy with the privacy policy, can leave the platform. According to the report, senior counsel K K Venugopal, who is representing Facebook, made the statement. Kapil Sibal, counsel for WhatsApp, has said that the contract between users and WhatsApp was in the private domain, therefore the privacy policy could not be tested constitutionally by the SC. Meanwhile, according to a PTI report, the government had informed the apex court of a ‘regulatory regime’ for data protection, saying that an individual’s freedom of choice needs to be protected. The bench, which is hearing the WhatsApp privacy policy matter, was informed that the government was also committed to protecting the freedom of choice of citizens.
The bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri, Amitava Roy, AM Khanwilkar and M M Shantanagoudar, had earlier asked the government to clarify its stand on the WhatsApp issue. The apex court also noted Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta’s submission that “the Government of India is placed or stands dedicated to see that individual’s freedom of choice is not scuttled”.
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PTI reported, senior advocate Harish Salve, who was appearing for petitioners Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi, placed before the bench the questions of law regarding the issue. He had said that someone could snoop into the messages, videos and photos which a user shares or circulates on the instant messaging platform. Meanwhile, the report said that Kapil Sibal, WhatsApp’s counsel, countered with the argument that WhatsApp was protecting the privacy of users as they have an end-to-end encryption technology which cannot be looked into by a third person.
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Venugopal had reportedly told the bench that they have filed application in which they have raised preliminary issues on the maintainability of the plea. He also argued that when the government has already said it would come out with a regulatory regime, “what is the purpose of deciding this now”.
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Meanwhile, the bench, which fixed the matter for hearing on May 15, said the maintainability issue would be dealt with at the time of hearing arguments.
Meanwhile, in Germany recently a case came to light where Facebook had agreed to pause the entire process where WhatsApp could share the data with the former Interestingly, WhatsApp, in its legal page, under the ‘Affiliated Companies’ category, makes an ambiguous statement: “…your WhatsApp messages will not be shared onto Facebook for others to see. In fact, Facebook will not use your WhatsApp messages for any purpose other than to assist us in operating and providing our Services.”
