HC seeks stand of Centre, Facebook, WhatsApp on plea against new privacy policy

PTI, May 17, 2021, 12:46 PM IST

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court sought the response of the Centre, Facebook and WhatsApp on Monday on a plea challenging the new privacy policy of the messaging application.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notices to the central government and the two social media platforms, seeking their stand on the petition filed by a lawyer who has claimed that WhatsApp’s new policy, which came into effect from May 15, violates users’ right to privacy under the Constitution.

During the hearing, WhatsApp told the court that implementation of its policy has not been deferred and it has come into effect from May 15.

It said for the time being, it will not delete the accounts of the users who have not accepted the policy and would try to encourage them to get on board with it.

The court listed the matter for hearing on June 3.