Whatsapp told by HC to delete from its servers info of users who opt out

September 23, 2016 03:58 pm | Updated November 09, 2021 02:05 am IST - NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court on Friday directed instant messaging service Whatsapp to delete from its server all information of users who chose to opt out of its services after September 25.

September 25 is the deadline after which Whatsapp said it would be sharing information of users with social media giant Facebook.

A bench headed by chief justice G. Rohini directed Whatsapp to delete all information of users who chose to delete their accounts rather than choosing for its new privacy policy.

On Wednesday, the bench had expressed concern over what happens to information of users who opt out of Whatsapp services.

The bench had raised the query while hearing petition filed by Karmanya Singh and one other law student who had moved the court saying that Whatsapp’s new policy was an infringement of users' privacy.

Their counsel Senior Advocate Pratibha M. Singh had contended that Whatsapp was not giving any option to its users but to share the information with Facebook.

While Whatsapp had said all information is deleted from its server in that situation, the high court was told by the petitioner that Whatsapp has itself claimed in its affidavit that popular video etc. is not deleted from its server.

The court has also directed the Union and TRAI to see if they can bring Internet based messaging services like Whatsapp under a regulatory framework.

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