Plea in SC seeking direction to WhatsApp to roll back its new privacy policy

New Delhi: A PIL filed in the Supreme Court is seeking a rollback of WhatsApp’s new take-it-or-leave-it privacy policy, claiming it violates laws and citizens’ right to privacy and free speech. It has also sought government intervention to frame a policy that would govern the operations of large tech organisations such as Whatsapp and Facebook.

The petition was filed by advocate on record Vivek Narayan Sharma on behalf of the Confederation of All Indian Traders. Though the government of India permitted WhatsApp to operate, it failed to play the role of the guardian of the fundamental rights of citizens against the company which has been rendering essential public services by enabling citizens to communicate, the fresh PIL said. The new privacy policy was not only an infringement of the citizens’ fundamental right to privacy but would affect national security, the petition claimed.