Supreme Court Issues Notice to WhatsApp on Plea Seeking Stay on its New Privacy Policy

On Monday, Supreme Court issued a notice to WhatsApp in view of an application requesting a stay on the operation of its new privacy policy.

The applicants had prayed that WhatsApp shall apply the European standards of privacy without lowering them for Indian users.

The Apex Court's three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Bobde and Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian, has asked WhatsApp to file a reply to the petition regarding the privacy of Indian users.

Appearing on behalf of the applicants, Senior Counsel Shyam Divan said that WhatsApp differentiates between Indians and Europeans in standards of privacy.

Appearing for Facebook, Senior Counsel Arvind Datar argued that the new privacy policy is an entirely new cause for action.

“People have grave apprehensions of loss of privacy. You may be a 2 million or trillion company but people are concerned about their privacy,” said the Chief Justice S.A. Bobde.

In a pending case filed by law students, Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi (Karmanya Singh Sareen & Anr. Vs Union of India Ministry of Communications Department of Telecommunications Secretary & Ors.) the court heard the application after revision of consumer policy by WhatsApp.

The petitioners argued that the manner in which WhatsApp's new privacy policy was framed and its terms resulted in a significant breach of the fundamental right to privacy of Indian citizens who use WhatsApp on a daily basis.