Facebook has got a rude shock from the Delhi High Court on Friday, as the social networking platform will not be allowed to get data from WhatsApp.
The case in question was raised earlier this month, when WhatsApp decided to tweak its privacy policy, heavily catering to the needs of its parent company, Facebook.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal has asked WhatsApp not to share with Facebook or other group companies information and details of exiting users and even those who opt of of the app subsequently. WhatsApp will introduce its new privacy policy on September 25.
However, WhatsApp can share the data of users who agree to the move after the new policy comes into effect, the court ruled.
For users willing to accept the new privacy policy, information gathered by WhatsApp prior to 25 September (which is the date of enforcement of the new privacy policy) no data gathered before that can be shared with Facebook.G Rohini, Delhi High Court Chief Justice
The court issued the directions as WhatsApp, while launching its app initially, had provided complete security and protection of privacy as also because the issue relating to an individual’s right of privacy is yet to be decided by the Supreme Court.
The High Court order has also directed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to intervene in the matter and look at how messaging platforms like WhatsApp can be brought under existing statutory regulations.
The instant messaging app, which was bought for $19.3 billion by Facebook in 2014, has been extremely vocal about protecting user’s data since inception. This latest revision of privacy policy is in contrast to its original stance.
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(With PTI inputs)
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