The Delhi High Court has asked popular messaging app WhatsApp to submit an affidavit clarifying its recently updated privacy policy by September 20. The directive comes in response to a PIL filed against the app in court. The case is being heard by a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal.
WhatsApp announced that it was planning to share some of its user data with its parent company Facebook on August 25. This information was to be used for targeted marketing by the latter. While customers had the choice of not consenting and opting out of the deal it still raises a lot of questions about the privacy of account holders given that the messaging service adopted end-to-end encryption not too long ago.
WhatsApp users all over the world are having mixed reactions to the updated policy. Most of them are wary about the ambiguous terms involved in the sharing. A PIL was filed in the Delhi High Court stating that the app’s new arrangement is threatening the privacy of account holders in the country. It also stated that the service is misleading users and making them agree to the deal without knowing what they are getting into.
Responding to this allegation, WhatsApp said that regulations are in place and that account holders’ privacy is not being compromised. The app’s end-to-end encryption does not allow anyone including its parent company to gain access to user data. According to PTI, the messaging service further claimed that it will share only the phone number of the account holders with Facebook.
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The statement by WhatsApp may allow concerns about privacy to rest, but it might not be the end of the issue. Facebook can still get a lot of material about the messaging app’s users through just their phone numbers. This single piece of information can connect the two apps to each other if they have account holders in common, and enable the social media platform to find more data about users.
The actual details about the information sharing process between WhatsApp and Facebook will be slightly clearer once the former issues a formal explanation about it. The Delhi High Court has asked the app to submit an affidavit clarifying the entire transaction and the question of user privacy attached to it. The matter will be taken further in the next hearing on September 21.