HC defers hearing pleas against WhatsApp's updated privacy policy

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday deferred hearing a bunch of petitions challenging WhatsApp's updated privacy policy last year, allegedly violating the fundamental rights of the users.

It is alleged that it takes away the choice the users had to share their data with other Facebook-owned and other third-party apps.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad was dealing with the matter.

Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma informed the bench that pleas with similar issues are listed before the Supreme Court's constitutional bench for Tuesday.

"Excerpts from the policy of WhatsApp depict how WhatsApp has made a mockery out of our fundamental right to privacy while discharging a public function in India, besides jeopardising the national security by sharing, transmitting, and storing users' data in some another country and that data, in turn, will be governed by the laws of that foreign country," one of the petitions filed by advocate Chaitanya Rohilla stated.

"There remains a possibility that that foreign country might be a hostile country to India. Brazenly, WhatsApp had also made it mandatory for its users to accept this policy by February 8, 2021 or else the services and accounts of the respective users would be terminated," the plea added.