Constitution Bench to hear WhatsApp's privacy policy matter
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday referred messaging app WhatsApp's privacy policy matter to a Constitution bench which will hear the issue on April 18, agencies reported.
In September last year, the Delhi High Court had issued orders asking WhatsApp to remove information and data of users who delete the messaging app from their devices. This came after a case was brought by petitioners Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi, who raised concerns about user privacy after WhatsApp updated its privacy policy in August.
A two judge bench had the time decided to only consider the issue of what would happen to user data if the user decides to delete his or her WhatsApp account. WhatsApp could not immediately be reached for comment.
In January, the Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre and telecom regulator on a plea that privacy of over 157 million Indians has been infringed by social networking sites WhatsApp and Facebook for alleged commercial use of personal communication.
A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud said on Wednesday that the parties should appear before the Constitution bench and formulate issues to be taken up for the hearing, agencies said.
On August 25 last year, WhatsApp had updated its privacy policy for the first time after it became a part of Facebook. Essentially, if a person has the Facebook app and WhatsApp app installed on the same device, even with different phone numbers, by using the device identifier, Facebook will now be able to map the two in the background using the basic device information.
Users had until September 25 to agree to the updated policy, but could choose not to be shown more targeted advertising and friend suggestions on Facebook using WhatsApp data. However, after September 25, WhatsApp and Facebook anyway share data with each other, which raised privacy concerns among several users.
The issue of regulating messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Hike, Telegram, Signal and Viber has been an ongoing debate in India for the past couple of years. A government panel on net neutrality in 2015 had recommended regulating such apps, which had led to uproar and backlash from civil society and internet activists. Trai had issued a consultation paper on the issue again but is yet to come out with its recommendations. This aspect is also a part of the broader consultation paper on net neutrality.
In September last year, the Delhi High Court had issued orders asking WhatsApp to remove information and data of users who delete the messaging app from their devices. This came after a case was brought by petitioners Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi, who raised concerns about user privacy after WhatsApp updated its privacy policy in August.
A two judge bench had the time decided to only consider the issue of what would happen to user data if the user decides to delete his or her WhatsApp account. WhatsApp could not immediately be reached for comment.
In January, the Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre and telecom regulator on a plea that privacy of over 157 million Indians has been infringed by social networking sites WhatsApp and Facebook for alleged commercial use of personal communication.
A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud said on Wednesday that the parties should appear before the Constitution bench and formulate issues to be taken up for the hearing, agencies said.
On August 25 last year, WhatsApp had updated its privacy policy for the first time after it became a part of Facebook. Essentially, if a person has the Facebook app and WhatsApp app installed on the same device, even with different phone numbers, by using the device identifier, Facebook will now be able to map the two in the background using the basic device information.
Users had until September 25 to agree to the updated policy, but could choose not to be shown more targeted advertising and friend suggestions on Facebook using WhatsApp data. However, after September 25, WhatsApp and Facebook anyway share data with each other, which raised privacy concerns among several users.
The issue of regulating messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Hike, Telegram, Signal and Viber has been an ongoing debate in India for the past couple of years. A government panel on net neutrality in 2015 had recommended regulating such apps, which had led to uproar and backlash from civil society and internet activists. Trai had issued a consultation paper on the issue again but is yet to come out with its recommendations. This aspect is also a part of the broader consultation paper on net neutrality.
