Two Indian students challenge WhatsApp new privacy policy

WhatsApp told Delhi HC that its new privacy policy does not infringe on the privacy of users.

Two engineering students from India, Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi, recently filed a public-interest litigation in the Delhi High Court against Facebook's messaging service, WhatsApp, soon after their latest announcement on the policy update.

As reported by Bloomberg, the students primarily challenged WhatsApp’s privacy policy stating that sharing WhatsApp numbers of users with advertising companies for 'relevant' ads threatens the rights of millions of users.

To ensure users' privacy isn't compromised, the students have filed for a petition that requests for an established guideline for messaging apps including WhatsApp to follow. The students even said that the latest changes in WhatsApp's privacy policies is a breach of users' trust as many WhatsApp readers can't even read English or understand the consequences of the changes in the app's policies.

The petition was examined by a two-judge bench, who have already issued notices to WhatsApp, Facebook, the Indian government and the country's telecommunications regulators, asking them to document their stand for the court. The case is scheduled for a hearing later this week.

WhatsApp said the changes announced last month were compliant with the law and it was giving users time to react, even letting them turn off data sharing with the Facebook. WhatsApp informed the Delhi HC last week it doesn't intend to share user content with Facebook except user names and phone numbers. The company said use of the app is voluntary,' reported Bloomberg.