A petition has been moved before the Delhi High Court challenging the updated privacy policy of WhatsApp.
The petition, preferred by Advocate Chaitanya Rohilla, claims that the policy absolutely violates the Right to Privacy guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution of India.
The new policy “virtually gives a 360-degree profile into a person’s online activity”, without any “government oversight”, the petitioner has asserted.
It is the petitioner’s concern that the updated privacy policy “takes away the choice” of a user to not share their data with other Facebook-owned apps and third-party apps.
It is added that there is no clarity on the extent to which data will be shared and what will be done with the sensitive data of users.
“WhatsApp has made a mockery out of our fundamental right to privacy while discharging a public function in India, besides jeopardizing the National Security of the country by sharing, transmitting and storing the user’s data in some another country and that data, in turn, will be governed by the laws of that foreign country”, the petition reads.
Justice Prathiba M Singh recused herself from hearing the case and will transfer it to a single-judge bench. The judge also said the matter should be treated as Public Interest Litigation (PIL).
The matter will next be heard on January 18, Bar & Bench reported.
WhatsApp has received backlash over the policy, due to concerns over data sharing with Facebook. WhatsApp has also issued a clarification, stating that the update relates to messages with a business over WhatsApp.