WhatsApp's new privacy policy was implemented on May 15, i.e. Saturday, which means users who haven't accepted it yet will keep getting full-screen prompts but will soon lose basic app features. On Monday, WhatsApp told the Delhi High Court that it would not delete users accounts that haven't accepted the new policy and will "encourage them to get on board."
HIGHLIGHTS
- On Monday, the Central government told the Delhi High Court that the new WhatsApp's privacy policy does not conform to Indian IT laws.
- The messaging platform confirmed that it wouldn't start deleting accounts of users who have not accepted the new policy right away.
- WhatsApp's new privacy policy has come into effect from May 15.
The Centre again questioned WhatsApp on Monday on whether the new privacy policy violates the Indian Information Technology (IT) law and rules.
During a court proceeding where several PILs were filed challenging the latest privacy policy of WhatsApp, the Centre told a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh in the Delhi High Court that the new privacy policy of WhatsApp violates IT law.
The Centre added that it had sought directions to the social media platform to make it clear whether it was confirming the same (IT law). The messaging platform, owned by Facebook, clarified that its new privacy policy has already come into effect from May 15. The platform also added that it would not start deleting accounts of users who are yet to accept the privacy policy. WhatsApp said that it would try to encourage users who haven't accepted the terms so far to accept them.
The bench on Monday also issued notices to the Centre, Facebook and WhatsApp, and sought their stand on one of the pleas by a lawyer. The pleas filed by the lawyer claimed that the new privacy policy violates users' right to privacy under the Constitution.
Notably, during the hearing, the Centre said that according to it, the new policy violated Indian IT laws and rules. The Centre also told the court that it has written to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the issue, and they are waiting for a reply.
The Centre further told the court that since they haven't received a response yet, there's a need to maintain the status quo regarding the implementation of the new privacy policy of WhatsApp.
Countering the claims of the Centre, WhatsApp told the court that it was conforming to Indian IT law and rules and added that its policy had already been implemented on Saturday, i.e., May 15.
After much uproar, WhatsApp implemented its new privacy policy on Saturday that will let it expand its business capabilities built-in using tools from the parent company, Facebook. The messaging platform has been stressing the fact that the new privacy policy doesn't change anything for regular users and is an update specifically for business accounts. However, the company has received an intense backlash on social media from users as well as privacy-focused groups that have called that this update may make sharing data between Facebook and WhatsApp more prominent.
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