WhatsApp will shut down if forced to break encryption: Company tells Delhi HC
WhatsApp told the court that it has more than 400 million users in India and they use the app largely for its privacy features.
The Government was granted more time by the Delhi High Court on Monday to file the status report in a petition seeking direction for an injunction against the updated privacy policy by WhatsApp.
Notably, WhatsApp had asked users to either give their consent to sharing data with Facebook or lose their accounts after February 8. The policy was, however, put on hold till May 15 due to a massive backlash by the users.
Advocate Chaitanya Rohilla, who has filed the petition, has claimed that the new policy violates the Right to Privacy guaranteed under the Constitution and gives a 360-degree profile into a person’s online activity without any government oversight.
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During the course of proceedings, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva granted the government more time and adjourned the matter to April 19. The court refused to issue a notice to the respondents in the matter.
In a similar matter related to the new privacy policy, Chief Justice DN Patel had issued notice to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The matter will come up for hearing on March 15.
In a hearing on January 25, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva emphasized that downloading the application is not mandatory and a person can choose not to download it.
“It is voluntary. If you do not want to, you can choose not to. It is not mandatory for you to download it,” a single-judge Bench of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said, reiterating his stand from an earlier proceeding.
Prior to that, the judge had remarked that if a person feels that WhatsApp will compromise data, they must delete it. “It is a private app. Do not join it. What is your grievance? I cannot understand your concern.”
(With IANS inputs)
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