New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to Facebook and WhatsApp and sought their response on a plea challenging the instant message application’s latest privacy policy which was introduced in January this year in India. The apex court has asked the tech giants to reply within four weeks.
“You may be a USD 2-3 trillion company but people’s privacy is more valuable for them and it is our duty to protect their privacy,” a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde told Facebook and WhatsApp. Furthermore, the Chief Justice stated that people have great apprehension over loss of privacy. “They think that if somebody messages to someone then…the whole thing is disclosed to Facebook”, the CJI asserted.
Supreme Court issues notice to Facebook and WhatsApp, seeking their response on a plea challenging WhatsApp's latest privacy policy which was introduced in January this year in India. Matter posted for hearing, four weeks later. pic.twitter.com/kjUANpTj2T
— ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2021
Representing Whatsapp, senior counsel Kapil Sibal denied that the data of users would be compromised by the new policy. “Europe has a special law on privacy and it will also follow if India has a similar statute”, said Sibal.
Earlier last month, the Facebook-owned app had renewed its terms of service and privacy policy, which were about come into effect from February 8. However, after facing flak, the company extended the date to May 15.