WhatsApp is treating Indians differently, matter of concern: Centre tells Delhi HC

New Delhi, January 25:Taking an objection over Whatsapps new Privacy policy, the Central government informed the Delhi High Court about Whatsapps partial behavior towards India and Indian users. Center representative additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma told Delhi HC that WA is treating Indian users differently from Europeans over opting out of its new privacy policy that is a matter of concern for the government and, it is looking into the issue.

 

“The Government is concerned by how the Indian users are not being given the option to choose or ‘opt-out’ of the new policy. It may infringe upon user security and privacy of the citizens. This differential treatment is a cause of concern” the ASG stated. “Indians are being treated with an all or nothing approach,” he said.

 

During the course of the hearing single-judge bench of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva observed that using the application was voluntary and not compulsory. “If you don’t want to use the application, you can choose not to. It is not mandatory for you to download or use it” Justice Sachdeva said.

 

Sharma also accuses the company said, that WhatsApp seemed to appear to be treating users with an “all or nothing approach” by not giving them a choice to opt-out of sharing their data with other companies of Facebook. “This leverages the social significance of WhatsApp to force users into a bargain which may infringe on their interests in information privacy and information security,” he told the court.

 

Moreover, Sharma also raised the personal Data Protection Bill and said that it addresses several concerns similar to the ones mentioned in the petition, and lays down a policy with respect to the matter. "The Data Protection Bill is being discussed by the Joint Parliamentary Committee...WhatsApp has been asked to respond to the Central government...As far as privacy is concerned, the government's concern has come on record...", ASG Sharma said.

 

The court also observed that the Personal Data Protection Bill was being considered by Parliament and the government was looking into issues raised in the plea. Apart from that the Court also questioned if it could issue a direction to the government to frame a law to regulate such platforms.

 

The Delhi-based lawyer advocate Chaitanya Rohillahas filed a plea stating that the new Privacy policy violates users' right to privacy under the constitution. The plea has claimed that the new privacy policy of WA allows full access to a user's online activity without there being any supervision by the government. Rohilla told the court that the problem was concerning the third-party services and threat to the country’s security as the data on the platform is shared globally.

 

Last week, the government wrote a stern letter to the Whatsapp CEO Will Cathcart in which govt order the company to withdraw the recent changes in the privacy policy saying unilateral changes are not fair and acceptable.

.

.