New Delhi: The Supreme Court gave a significant directive on Wednesday regarding the new privacy policy of the instant messaging app WhatsApp. The Supreme Court directed WhatsApp to make public its affidavit was given to the Central Government in the year 2021 that it will not impose any restrictions on the service of users who do not agree to the new privacy policy.
In the Supreme Court, a five-judge bench headed by Justice KM Joseph asked WhatsApp to advertise in five newspapers to make public the affidavit given to the government. Justice Ajay Rastogi, Justice Aniruddha Bose, Justice Hrishikesh Roy, and Justice CT Ravikumar were included in this bench.
‘Information should be given twice in the newspaper’
“We are taking note of the stand taken in the letter (written to the government) and the submissions of senior counsel for WhatsApp that they will comply with the terms of the letter till the next hearing date,” the bench said. Said, ‘We also direct WhatsApp to inform WhatsApp users about this aspect twice in five national newspapers.’
The top court was hearing a petition filed by students Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi, challenging an agreement between WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook to provide access to users’ calls, photos, messages, videos, and documents. And it was termed a violation of people’s privacy and freedom of speech.
On this, the Supreme Court directed WhatsApp to publicize its promise that it will not limit the options available on the platform for users who do not agree to its new privacy policy.
