Centre urges HC to restrain WhatsApp’s new policy

New Delhi: The centre urged the Delhi High Court to restrain WhatsApp from implementing its new policy as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a stay on the issue, is pending before the court. The PIL also seeks framing of guidelines to protect the privacy and data of users being collected by various social media sites and messaging apps.

Dr Seema Singh, a Noida resident along with some Delhi residents have filed a petition arguing that the fissures in law with regard to data are “quite conspicuous” and there must be a framework to regulate them.

The petition contends, “Social media in recent years has been used by billions of people around the world and millions of Indians today are dependent on WhatsApp. Therefore, information, which is generally personal, is shared at an enormous level. This information is susceptible to being misused if the social media giant decides to either sell or exploit the information, sensitive to the users, to any third party.”