Supreme Courts Directs WhatsApp To Publicise Its Privacy Policy Pledge
The Supreme Court of India has directed Meta-owned WhatsApp to publicise its privacy policy pledge amid allegations that the instant messaging platform is sharing sensitive user information with other companies within Meta.
On Wednesday, WhatsApp told the Supreme Court that all communication on the platform is encrypted and no messages can be seen by the Meta-owned company, TOI reported.?WhatsApp also assured that it would not remove users for not consenting to its privacy policy that intended to share user data with Meta group of companies, including Facebook.
Tech companies under fire
Now, WhatsApp has been directed by a Constitution Bench led by Justice KM Joseph to publish its undertaking in full-page advertisements on two separate occasions in five national newspapers, The Hindu reported. According to the contentious privacy policy, WhatsApp's sister company Facebook would have access to users' calls, photos, texts, videos, and documents - which the challenging plea stated was a threat to people's privacy and free speech.
The government is set to introduce a new digital data protection bill in the latter half of the budget session.
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In an undertaking given to the government on May 22, 2021, WhatsApp had promised not to "limit the functionality of how WhatsApp works in the coming weeks as previously planned." In addition, the company had stated that it would continue to display the update to users if they interact with relevant features.
"We hope this approach reinforces the choice that people have in how they use WhatsApp. We will maintain this approach till the forthcoming Data Protection Bill comes into existence," the letter had stated.
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The upcoming law that will be framed is expected to address the grievances concerning breach of privacy by intermediaries like Meta, Twitter, and Google.
WhatsApp told the court that as of now 60 crore people use the app but not a single complaint has been filed since 2009 against the company on grounds of privacy breach.
What do you think about concerns surrounding privacy on WhatsApp? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.?For more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com.? ?
