The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to Facebook and WhatsApp as it was hearing a plea against the new privacy policy. The court said that people have grave apprehension that they will lose their privacy, and it is our duty to protect them.
The court asked the companies to respond in four weeks, a Bench headed by CJI SA Bobde noted that people’s privacy must be protected in view of the allegation that users’ data was being shared with other companies.
The government told SC that businesses couldn’t share their users’ data and needed to protect it. “Petitioners who disagree with the privacy policy claim that there is a huge amount of user metadata shared for the benefit,†he added.
WhatsApp and Facebook refute the Centre’s claim about user data sharing. He told the court that the same privacy policy applies to all countries except European countries that have special data protection legislation.