Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 9

WhatsApp today informed the Delhi High Court that it would not compel users to opt for its new privacy policy till the data protection law came into force.

The social media platform, which has 53 crore users in India, told a Bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel that it had put its new privacy policy on hold and would not limit the functionality for users not opting for that.

“We voluntarily agreed to put it (the policy) on hold... we will not compel people to accept it,” senior counsel Harish Salve told the Bench on behalf of WhatsApp.

He, however, said WhatsApp would nonetheless continue to display the update to its users. Facebook and WhatsApp have challenged a single-judge order refusing to stay the Competition Commission of India (CCI) order directing a probe into WhatsApp’s new privacy policy.

India is the biggest market for WhatsApp, but its rival platforms, such as Telegram and Signal, have registered a significant surge in the number of users. In the recent months, WhatsApp has also faced opposition to its new privacy policy. The policy is under challenge in the Supreme Court that issued notices to WhatsApp and the Centre on the issue on February 15.

The policy is under challenge in the SC that issued notices to WhatsApp and the Centre on February 15. The petitioners against its new privacy policy alleged that it provided for lower standards of privacy for Indian users compared to their European counterparts.

The SC had noted that people’s privacy must be protected in view of the allegation that users’ data was being shared with other companies. “You may be two or three trillion (dollar) companies, but people value their privacy more than money,” it had said.

It’s the duty of the judiciary to protect citizens’ privacy and people have apprehensions that they will lose their privacy and it is our duty to protect them, it had noted.