NEW DELHI (Reuters) – WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy verges
on user surveillance and threatens India’s security, a petition
filed in an Indian court said on Thursday, presenting another legal
challenge for the Facebook Inc-owned messenger.
![image](/2020/10/lawreport.jpg")
California-based WhatsApp said on Jan. 4 it reserved the right
to share some data including location and phone number with
Facebook and its units such as Instagram and Messenger.
![image](/2020/10/NWLRland.jpg")
That triggered outrage, including in its biggest market India
where it has 400 million users.
The change has also met with a challenge in Turkey with the
country’s Competition Board this week launching an investigation
into the messaging service and its parent.
In India, many users have began installing rival apps like
Signal and Telegram, pushing WhatsApp to begin a costly advertising
campaign to calm customers.
“It virtually gives a 360-degree profile into a person’s online
activity,” lawyer Chaitanya Rohilla said of Whatsapp’s new policy
in the petition to the Delhi High Court.
‘BROWBEATING’
A copy of the petition, seen by Reuters, said Whatsapp was
jeopardizing national security by sharing, transmitting and storing
user data in another country with the information thus governed by
foreign laws.
“WhatsApp has made a mockery out of our fundamental right to
privacy,” it said.
WhatsApp has given users a Feb. 8 deadline to agree to the new
terms.
“This type of arbitrary behaviour and browbeating cannot be
accepted in a democracy and is completely ‘ultra vires’ (beyond its
powers) and against the fundamental rights as enshrined in the
Constitution of India,” the petition added.
It will be heard by the Delhi High Court on Friday.
WhatsApp did not respond to a request for comment. It has
previously said the policy update does not affect privacy of
messages with friends and family, as group chats are encrypted and
the changes only relate to interactions with businesses.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy verges
on user surveillance and threatens India’s security, a petition
filed in an Indian court said on Thursday, presenting another legal
challenge for the Facebook Inc-owned messenger.
California-based WhatsApp said on Jan. 4 it reserved the right
to share some data including location and phone number with
Facebook and its units such as Instagram and Messenger.
That triggered outrage, including in its biggest market India
where it has 400 million users.
The change has also met with a challenge in Turkey with the
country’s Competition Board this week launching an investigation
into the messaging service and its parent.
In India, many users have began installing rival apps like
Signal and Telegram, pushing WhatsApp to begin a costly advertising
campaign to calm customers.
“It virtually gives a 360-degree profile into a person’s online
activity,” lawyer Chaitanya Rohilla said of Whatsapp’s new policy
in the petition to the Delhi High Court.
‘BROWBEATING’
A copy of the petition, seen by Reuters, said Whatsapp was
jeopardizing national security by sharing, transmitting and storing
user data in another country with the information thus governed by
foreign laws.
“WhatsApp has made a mockery out of our fundamental right to
privacy,” it said.
WhatsApp has given users a Feb. 8 deadline to agree to the new
terms.
“This type of arbitrary behaviour and browbeating cannot be
accepted in a democracy and is completely ‘ultra vires’ (beyond its
powers) and against the fundamental rights as enshrined in the
Constitution of India,” the petition added.
It will be heard by the Delhi High Court on Friday.
WhatsApp did not respond to a request for comment. It has
previously said the policy update does not affect privacy of
messages with friends and family, as group chats are encrypted and
the changes only relate to interactions with businesses.