Delhi High Court Grants Centre Further 4 Weeks' To Respond To Plea Against WhatsApp's Privacy Policy

The counsel for the petitioner, Adv Manohar Lal pointed out that the Delhi High Court has also issued notice in another related petition on the matter, upon which the court asked him why it needed to look into this case then.

The centre had earlier submitted before the court on Jan 25, which was when the petition was heard last, that WhatsApp's differential policy for users in India and the European Union with respect to acceptance of the updated policy, was a major cause of concern.

Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma appearing for the Centre had also submitted that the Personal Data Protection Bill, which is pending before the Parliament addresses a majority of concerns similar to the ones raised in the present petition, and lays down a policy with respect to the matter.

Since the filing of the petition, the Delhi High Court has been apprehensive about issuing notice on the same, observing that WhatsApp is a 'private app' and that the users voluntarily use the app even though they have the option to not use it.

It has said that it will only issue notice on the petition once it understands the concern of the petitioner against the application and its contentious updated privacy policy. The single judge bench asked the petitioner, "What is your grievance? It's a private app, don't join it."

The petition, which was filed in January this year alleges that the instant messaging app's new policy is violative of the citizens' Right to Privacy and threatens national security. It further alleges that the updated policy virtually gives the company a 360-degree profile into a person's online activity.

The plea argues that, "This level of insight into a person's private and personal activities is done without any government oversight at present or regulatory supervision. Moreover, in the absence of a data protection authority, it leaves the users with a company's own assurances and privacy policies," the plea states.

The petition seeks an injunction order restraining WhatsApp from enforcing the updated privacy policy, and the framing of guidelines/ directions to ensure that any change in the privacy policy by WhatsApp is carried out strictly in recognition of the Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution.