Online instant messaging platform WhatsApp in the Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to undertake that it will not limit the access of users who have not agreed to its 2021 privacy policy.
A Constitution Bench led by Justice K.M. Joseph directed WhatsApp, appearing through senior advocate Kapil Sibal, to publish its undertaking in full-page advertisements on two occasions in five national newspapers.
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The court agreed with WhatsApp’s submission that it would abide by an undertaking given in a letter to the government on May 22, 2021.
WhatsApp, in the letter, had said it would “not limit the functionality of how WhatsApp works in the coming weeks as previously planned. We will continue to display our update from time to time to people who have not yet accepted. In addition we will display the update whenever a user chooses relevant option features… We hope this approach reinforces the choice that people have in how they use WhatsApp. We will maintain this approach till the forthcoming Data Protection Bill comes into existence.”
The court said the undertaking given in the 2021 letter would be complied with until the next date of hearing on April 11.
The government has submitted in court that it intended to introduce a new digital data protection Bill in the latter half of the Budget Session. It has urged the court to wait and see if the Bill passed muster in the Parliament and be made into a law.
The court is hearing a batch of petitions challenging WhatsApp’s policy to share users’ data with Facebook group of companies.
