New Delhi. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court gave a strict warning to Meta Platforms regarding the privacy policy of WhatsApp. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant said that technology companies cannot play with the privacy rights of citizens by staying in India. The court even said that if companies cannot follow the Constitution, they should leave the country.
Hearing is being held on the matter of privacy policy
This hearing is going on in the matter related to the privacy policy of WhatsApp 2021. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had imposed a fine of Rs 213 crore on WhatsApp which was upheld by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). This decision was challenged by Meta and WhatsApp in the Supreme Court. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi is hearing the case.
Interim order will come on 9th February
Considering the seriousness of the matter, the Supreme Court has also directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to make it a party in this petition. The court has warned the companies that either they should give a written assurance not to share the data, otherwise the court will have to pass an order. The bench said that an interim order will be passed in this case on February 9.
‘Theft in the name of data sharing will not be tolerated’
During the hearing, the Chief Justice raised serious questions on the language of WhatsApp’s privacy policy. He said that the right to privacy is very important in this country and companies cannot violate it.
Making a strong comment, the bench said, “You cannot play with the privacy of this country in the name of data sharing. Your privacy terms are so cleverly designed that a common man cannot understand them. This is a ‘civilized way’ of stealing personal information, which we will not allow to happen.” The Chief Justice further said, “If you cannot follow our Constitution, then leave India. We will not allow the privacy of citizens to be compromised.”
The court has made it clear that it will not allow sharing of even a single word of the data. Now all eyes are on February 9, when the court will give its interim verdict in this case.