Whatsapp, Facebook not legally entitled to claim they protect privacy: Centre tells Delhi HC

The Centre on Friday told the Delhi High Court that WhatsApp and Facebook “which monetise users’ personal information” for commercial purposes are not legally entitled to claim that they protect privacy and that the instant messaging platform needs to create a mechanism to identify an unlawful information’s origin and originator without compromising end-to-end encryption.

The submission was made in a reply filed in response to WhatsApp’s petition challenging the 2021 IT Rules’ requirement of enabling the traceability of online messages.

The government said that the petition filed by WhatsApp is not maintainable as the company is a foreign entity and it cannot claim rights under Article 21, including the right to privacy.