SC go ahead to CCI for probe into WhatsApp privacy policy

The move was challenged by WhatsApp and its parent firm, Meta in the Delhi high court which turned down their plea, leading the firm to approach the Supreme Court.

WhatsApp, WhatsApp privacy policy, meta,
The apex court said that CCI being an independent authority can consider any violation of the provisions of the Competition Act 2002.

WhatsApp and its parent firm, Meta (Facebook), suffered a major setback on Friday with the Supreme Court rejecting their appeal on restraining the Competition Commission of India (CCI) from going ahead with its investigation into the messaging platform’s new privacy policy.

Under the new privacy policy of WhatsApp, which was announced early last year, it seeks to share commercial user data (business accounts) with its parent Facebook. Accounts of users who do not give their consent to the terms and conditions outlined in the new policy, could be deleted by the firm.

The CCI had on March 24, 2021 ordered a probe into the policy for alleged breach of antitrust law. “CCI is of prima facie opinion that the ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ nature of privacy policy and terms of service of WhatsApp and the information-sharing stipulations mentioned therein, merit a detailed investigation in view of the market position and market power enjoyed by WhatsApp,” the CCI order had stated. The CCI had, on its own, decided to look into the new privacy policy on the basis of news reports.

Also Read: Samsung One UI 5 feature guide: Everything to know about upcoming software update for Galaxy devices

The move was challenged by WhatsApp and its parent firm, Meta in the Delhi high court which turned down their plea, leading the firm to approach the Supreme Court.

However, on Friday, a bench led by Justice MR Shah refused to interfere with the Delhi high court order, meaning that CCI can go ahead with its probe. The apex court said that CCI being an independent authority can consider any violation of the provisions of the Competition Act 2002.

“Having prima facie opined that it is a case of violation of the 2002 Act and, thereafter, when the proceedings are initiated by the CCI, it cannot be said that the initiation of the proceedings of the CCI are wholly without jurisdiction,” it said. “The precedent of the Supreme Court has held that the proceedings before the CCI are required to be completed at the earliest. In view of the above, the CCI cannot be restrained from proceeding further with the enquiry/investigation for the alleged violation of the Competition Act. All the contentions available to the parties are kept open,” Justice Shah said in his short order.

It maybe mentioned that the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) had also objected to the new privacy policy of WhatsApp and asked the firm to roll it back.

The basic objection of the government was that the manner of introducing it undermined the “sacrosanct values of informational privacy, data security and user choice for Indian users and harms the rights and interests of Indian citizens”.

WhatsApp stand against a CCI probe was that since the government was in the process of coming out with a Data Protection Bill, any investigation by CCI should not go on concurrently. It further said that since a related privacy matter was before the Constitution bench of the apex court, any investigation by CCI would be overstepping of jurisdiction.

Read Next
Get live Share Market updates, Stock Market Quotes, and the latest India News
This article was first uploaded on October fifteen, twenty twenty-two, at zero minutes past six in the morning.
X