Denying earlier media reports, popular mobile messaging service WhatsApp on Thursday said it will comply with the Delhi high court order against sharing with its parent company, Facebook, user data collected up to 25 September.
In a statement, a WhatsApp spokesperson said:
WhatsApp will comply with the order from the Delhi high court. We plan to proceed with the privacy policy and terms update in accordance with the court’s order. The court’s emphasis on the importance of user choice and consent is encouraging.
Earlier, global multi-platform media and entertainment company Mashable said WhatsApp planned to defy the Delhi high court order and go ahead with sharing information with Facebook as planned.
According to Mashable, the Delhi high court's order “hasn’t impacted its planned changes in WhatsApp's terms and privacy policy.”
“The ruling has no impact on the planned policy and terms of service updates,” WhatsApp spokesperson Anne Yeh said in a statement.Mashable report
On 25 August, WhatsApp made extensive changes to its privacy policy announcing that it would and could share users’ personal information, including their phone numbers, with its parent company Facebook.
A division bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal ordered WhatsApp on 23 September to not share users’ data collected under its old privacy policy over the years up to 25 September 2016, with Facebook or any other related company.
The court also directed the government to consider the issue of functioning of instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp and take an appropriate decision as to whether it is feasible to bring them under the statutory regulatory framework.
WhatsApp had given its users 30 days’ time – which expired on 25 September – to opt out of the new privacy policy.
(With inputs from IANS)
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