WhatsApp privacy policy under scrutiny in India

New privacy policy of WhatsApp in India has been under intense scrutiny in India, including questioning of its validity under the Indian law at the Deli High Court. The public interest litigation (Dr Seema Singh v. UOI), alleges violation of the right to privacy under Indian Constitution, since the users can not opt-out of the new privacy policy. Indian government has now asked the court in this proceeding to block the implementation of the new WhatsApp privacy policy, as it violates Indian IT rules by failing to specify data collection rules and disclosures to third parties.

Parallel to this the Indian antitrust authority, Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered a probe into the WhatsApp privacy policy update for breach of antitrust laws by sharing data within the Facebook group. 

WhatsApp has announced its new privacy policy in January, to be implemented in India on 15  May 2021.