Govt Says Whatsapp Is Violating Indian Laws; Will Whatsapp Delete Accounts Over Privacy Policy?

The Central Government told the High Court that the new privacy policy of WhatsApp is a violation of the Indian Information Technology (IT) law and rules. 

The government has also asked for directions to WhatsApp to make it clear if the platform was conforming to the same. 

Government Claims WhatsApp’s New Privacy Policy Is Violating Indian IT Laws

This claim by the central government was put forth before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh. The claim was put forth along with multiple other pleas that challenged the new privacy policy of WhatsApp which has not been deferred and came into effect on May 15. 

As per WhatsApp the new privacy policy has come into effect already but it has assured that the accounts of the users who don’t accept it will not be deleted; instead, they will be encouraged to accept the policy.

WhatsApp has also stated that there is no universal or uniform time limit after which accounts will be deleted. However, These users will be dealt with on a case-to-case basis by WhatsApp. 

A notice has been issued to the Centre Facebook and WhatsApp which asks for their stand on the please buy a lawyer who claims that the new policy violates the users right to privacy under the Constitution. 

Additionally, during the hearing, the Centre has also said that the policy violates Indian IT laws and rules.

It also said that it has written to CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the issue and a reply is awaited.

It had also stated that Indian users being “unilaterally” subjected to the change in the privacy policy is a matter of concern.

WhatsApp To Delete Accounts Over Privacy Policy?

Recently, as per a senior Ministry of Electronics and IT official, the government is now “pro-actively” looking for ways to find out optimum options around the new privacy policy of WhatsApp. 

As per MeitY Special Secretary and Financial Advisor Jyoti Arora, “The ministry is cognisant of this problem. Today, Germany has banned this privacy policy of WhatsApp. The ministry is proactively looking at what we can do about it.”

The WhatsApp new policy has an updated privacy policy where you need to compulsorily agree to the terms of services to continue using the messaging service where it says it will be collecting users’ location, device model, operating system, battery level, browser details, payment processing method, transactions, and such other private data.

Whatsapp said that if any user does not accept the new privacy policy, it will still be able to get back to the app with full functionality; however, if the policy is not accepted, the account of the user shall be deemed to be inactive. Also, inactive accounts are automatically deleted after 120 days.

After the outrage, WhatsApp had clarified that the accounts of the people who don’t agree with the policy will not be closed; however, now WhatsApp has said that they will lose access to some of the features of WhatsApp.