Plea in HC says new WhatsApp policy violates right to privacy

New Delhi: A Delhi-based advocate has filed a petition in the Delhi high court, challenging WhatsApp’s new privacy policy and arguing that it violates the right to privacy and jeopardises national security. The plea is scheduled to be head by the court on Friday.

The new privacy policy, which was rolled out by WhatsApp, owned by Facebook Inc, on January 4, includes mandatory sharing of data with the parent company. The decision to share data was first floated in 2016, post WhatsApp’s acquisition by Facebook, but until last week, users already on the platform before the acquisition had the choice of not sharing that data. That choice no longer exists.

The move has faced massive backlash globally — especially in WhatsApp’s biggest market India where it has 400 million users — with people en masse defecting to other messaging applications such as Signal and Telegram.