WhatsApp Upcoming Data & Privacy Policy, A Violation Of The Rights Guaranteed By The Constitution. Plea Filed in Delhi High Court Challenging the New Policy
(Judicial Quest News Network)
A plea has been filed in Delhi High Court Challenging the WhatsApp updated privacy policy, which comes into effect on February 6,on the grounds that it violates the Right to privacy and threatens national security.
The petition is filed by Advocate Chaitanya Rohilla.
The petitioner says that WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy, which was made known on January 4, essentially takes away the choice users had until now to not share their data with other Facebook-owned and third-party apps.
WhatsApp through the Policy is clearly trying to share its users data to the parent company and other companies which will eventually use that data to serve their vested interests.
WhatsApp has put a damocles sword upon its users, compelling them to share their data to them and ultimately other companies. This type of dissemination of information about an individual involves high risk of miss use of that data.
There remains no clarity as to what all companies that data would be shared to, when it will be shared, to what extent that data will be shared and what will be done with all that sensitive data of users. It’s quite clear that WhatsApp is integrating greater into Facebook so that Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram (another subsidiary of Facebook) all become part of one package.
Face-book owned WhatApp’s updated policy states that the company may share user information with its family of companies to “facilitate”, support and integrate their activities and improve our services” it remains that calls and tests remain end-t-end encrypted.
Petitioner submits that it virtually gives a 360-degree profile into a person’s online activity.
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. And if WhatsApp is stating that it is now going to use the users data and share it with the largest social network in the world, which is embedded on every second website and collect data from there as well, the integration of this data will essentially mean that the user is perpetually under the surveillance of the Facebook group of companies
The plea says that if WhatsAppis going to share the data with Facebook, which is embedded on every second website and collect data from there as well.” Then the data being integrated would mean that user “is perpetually under the surveillance of the face book group of companies.”
A spe the report, the plea calls the sharing of information itself illegal, because WhatsApp can only share information for purposes that are “reasonably linked” to what the information was provided for.
A user who has signed up to WhatsApp because they want to communicate. Users’ provide their data to WhatsApp for this, whereas WhatsApp is using this data and sharing it with third-part services and Facebook to run their own businesses. It emphatically implies that the purpose that WhatsApp is using the information for is not reasonably connected to the purpose for which the user is giving that information to WhatsApp.
The lea states that the app has become an important mode of communication among Indians, and is also used to aide governmental functions, to stress that it discharges a public function even while being a private entity.
The petition is filed through Advocate Manohar Lal
The matter is likely to heard tomorrow
