Restrain WhatsApp from implementing new privacy policy: Centre to Delhi HC – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday urged the Delhi high court to restrain WhatsApp from implementing its new privacy policy and terms of service.
The ministry of electronics and information technology made the statement in its affidavit filed in response to a petition challenging the new privacy policy of social networking platform WhatsApp.
The petitioners, Seema Singh and Meghan Singh, have contended that the new privacy policy indicates the “fissures” in the data protection and privacy laws.
In January, the messaging platform informed users it was preparing a new privacy policy, under which it could share limited user data with Facebook and its group firms.
This sparked a global outcry and sent users to rival apps Telegram and Signal, among others, prompting WhatsApp to delay the new policy launch to May.
The company then clarified that the update was focused on allowing users to message with businesses and would not affect personal conversations.
WhatsApp’s new privacy policy requires users to either accept it or exit the app, but they cannot opt not to share their data with other Facebook-owned or third party apps.
(With inputs from agencies)